What I Wanted
by TheWestWitch
Summary: Camille was never one for excitement. So when she finds herself in Narnia she just wants to go home. At least, until she starts to fall for a certain king. Peter/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Camille knew exactly what it was that she liked about books. It simply had something to do with the fact that, due to her slightly overactive imagination, she could easily lose herself in a book because she could visualize the people, the places, and the things that she read about. At least, she could if a book was written well enough.

Camille specifically enjoyed fairytales and fantasy, closely followed by romances. Needless to say, she had a collection growing in her room, and not just on the shelves of her bookshelf. Books littered the shelves in her closet and the top of her dresser, sometimes along with the floor.

Camille felt that she had a simple life in her suburb city that laid just outside of London. She had a simple mother and a simple father, a simple younger brother, simple friends - that were more like simple acquaintances that inconveniently stuck around, and a simple school that she attended for the majority of the year. Camille also thought that maybe part of her affection for reading was due to the general blandness of her life.

It's not that Camille was a boring person, or that her life had always been bland, it was just that she had been blessed with a relatively quiet life. Blessed, she thought, because she once had an 'interesting' life full of boyfriends, fake friends and, well... lies.

It had mostly been lies.

One day it was a rumor, another it was a lying friend, the next it was a cheating boyfriend or a boyfriend that cared more about getting what he wanted than Camille herself.

Needless to say, Camille had grown tired of all of that and had retreated back into her quiet home and her world of books.

Her home wasn't truly quiet, it was really just Camille's room that was. Her parents were generally pretty lively people, throwing dinner parties throughout the year for whatever reason - Camille hardly paid attention as she avoided them like the plague. Her brother wasn't bland either, though it was hardly the same kind of interesting that Camille's had previously been; he was interested in sports, mostly.

Mostly, Camille's family was simple in her own mind, but it might have had something to do with everything that happened to the characters in her books. It was just the comparison that made her think her life was a little bland.

The truth was, Camille needed a wake-up call.

"Hey Camille!" The snobby, older girl sneered at her as she approached, her posse of other pretentious-looking girls on her heels.

Camille looked up from the book she had carried to classes with her to look at Trissy. Rolling her eyes, Camille said, "Trissy."

Trissy raised a blonde eyebrow at Camille and leaned on one foot, crossing her arms, "Excuse me? I thought you had better manners, Camille."

Camille's eyes shifted between the faces of Trissy's posse, recognizing a few of them as friends she had had previously, before her eyes rested on Trissy again.

"Leave me alone, Trissy," Camille spat back, sounding more confident than she felt, "I'm not in the mood."

Trissy laughed, and her companions joined her, before she spoke again, "Not in the mood, huh? Well, you see Camille, I really don't care if you're in the mood or not, " she smirked at Camille as she spoke, "Because that simply doesn't matter."

Trissy then stepped forward and swatted the book that Camille had been reading out of her arms. Angry, Camille punched Trissy in the face, not considering the consequences of her actions until after Trissy had stumbled backwards.

Camille only had a split-second to turn on her heel and run through the grounds toward the school, being closely followed by Trissy's posse. As she ran, she dropped her bookbag on the ground, abandoning it, and found that after doing so she could outrun the other girls; it probably had something to do with the fact that Trissy's friends were on the chubbier side, whereas Camille had a slender build that was well suited for running.

Throwing open the doors of the school, Camille ran inside, pushing through the crowd of students. Her most faithful friend of the time, Emily, called after her as she passed, "Camille!"

Camille ignored Emily's shouts and pushed on, she didn't know exactly where she was going because she hadn't decided whether or not to hide or go to one of the teachers. Needless to say, she came to the end of a hall and reached for the nearest doorhandle, realizing before she pulled it open that it was a deserted classroom.

However, when she yanked the door open and rushed inside, she found that instead of an abandoned classroom, she had just entered a luscious green meadow. It took Camille a few moments to realize that she wasn't imagining things before she turned back around to walk back through the door she had entered through.

There was just one problem though, the door - and the rest of the school - had vanished as though into thin air.

_I must be going loopy_, she thought as she took in the forest that stood in front of her now, instead of the door and her school.

Not a moment after this thought crossed her mind before she realized that she was being watched by a large brown bear. Frozen in fear and shock, Camille watched as the bear stepped forward on its hind legs through the trees.

Regaining her composure, Camille began to slowly back away from the bear before she saw it open its mouth, exposing large and menacing teeth.

But, instead of growling at her loudly, like she expected, the bear spoke, "Well, hullo there, I've never seen you before."

Moments later, Camille's vision filled with blackness and she felt herself fall to the ground before losing consciousness.

**Author's note: Okay, so I wrote this late at night and I realize it may be kind of bland right now. Although I guess when you write about a bookworm that intentionally makes her life that way, it's a little hard to avoid. :) Anyway, it will get more exciting - as will Camille, that much I can promise.. Considering this chapter is mostly about introducing Camille.. Please refrain from flaming me if you can help it.. Although constructive criticism is encouraged, even welcomed :)**


	2. Chapter 2

As Camille felt herself coming back into consciousness she realized that she could hear voices coming from somewhere above her. The closest one said: "Sheesh Brone, what did you do?"

"I just said hullo, is all," Camille recognized the voice of the brown bear reply, "That's all I did."

A third voice, from somewhere to Camille's left joined in, "Oooh! Brone, Raanan, hush; she's waking."

The voices stopped as Camille slowly opened her eyes. At first, all she could see was the blue of the sky, but as she began to look around she realized that the brown bear was standing a few feet away from her and that two - well, she wasn't sure what they were, as they had the legs of goats and the torso's of men - others had joined him. She noticed them exchange looks as she slowly sat up, remembering what had happened just before she passed out.

"Wh-where am I?" Camille asked stupidly, looking around, "Who are you?"

Camille's eyes rested on the faun - as she realized that's what he and the other half-goat, half-man must have been - to her left after she spoke. He seemed slightly taken aback when she did.

"Err," he cleared his throat, "I'm Gareth, and you are in Narnia."

"Uhm," Camille looked between Gareth and the other that she assumed was a faun, confused, before looking back to Gareth, "Are you a faun?"

Gareth nodded after exchanging a look with the other faun, "Yes, Raanan and I are fauns. And Brone, as I'm sure you can tell, is a brown bear."

Camille then rose to her feet and looked over at Brone, she saw him smile at her, exposing his teeth again. This time she realized that he was trying to be friendly, and she felt incredibly stupid for being so afraid of him before.

"What we were wondering," Raanan spoke for the first time since Camille had opened her eyes, and she looked over to him, "Is where you came from."

Camille quickly took in Raanan's very dark hair that was not only covering his head and his legs, but also a considerable amount of his torso, too; it contrasted with Gareth's golden hair quite a bit.

"Erm, well I was at school before I found myself here," Camille started, before realizing that although Gareth had told her she was in Narnia, she had no idea what Narnia was, much less where it was, "But where am I, again? Narnia? Where is that?"

Raanan answered, "Narnia is the country that reaches out to the Western Woods in the west, Ettinsmoor in the north, the Great Eastern Sea in the east, and Archenland in the south."

Camille frowned, "But I've never heard of any of those places!" she said, groaning, "I just want to go home, how can I get back when I don't have a clue where I am!"

The fauns and Brone looked quite surprised by her outburst, and it was Gareth that spoke to her in his calming voice, "I'm sure that Aslan could send you home, miss. We might have to take you to Cair Paravel though; if he turns up in Narnia again I reckon that's where he'll go first."

"Cair Paravel?" Camille repeated, realizing that she had no idea of what, or where, that was either.

"Yes," Gareth answered, "The kings and queens of Narnia reside there - even if Aslan doesn't turn up, I'm sure that they could help you. It lies just beside the sea, all we have to do is pass the stone table, and then we should be able to see it."

Before Camille could say anything else, Raanan spoke again, "Begging your pardon, but what is your name?"

Camille was taken aback by his question, both surprised and feeling stupid for not introducing herself, she answered, "Camille."

Raanan offered her a friendly smile in reply, "Well Camille, I suppose that Gareth and I will accompany you to Cair Paravel in a few hours, if you don't mind."

Then Brone interrupted, "I want to go, too."

Gareth laughed lightly, "I'm sorry Brone, it's at least a day's journey to Cair Paravel from here, and you eat so much - it would slow us down to have to carry it all."

Then Camille saw the bear frown, which was a very odd sight coming from a bear, before he mumbled, "I see you have a point."

Gareth turned to Camille and offered her his arm, which she took after a slight hesitation, and led her into the trees. Being escorted by Gareth and followed by Raanan, Camille walked through the trees quietly, looking all around her. She was surprised to see that they weren't normal trees, seeing as they seemed to move - maybe even dance - without the wind moving them. She also noticed that there were dryads – at least a dozen of them - peeking their heads out from behind the trunks of trees as they passed.

Just as they were about to reach the makeshift home that belonged to Gareth, one of the dryads with a younger face than the others was brave enough to fully emerge from behind a tree and approach them.

"Gareth," she said in her soft voice, "Who is that?"

"Her name is Camille, Brone found her outside the line of trees," Gareth answered simply, smiling at the dryad.

Then the dryad looked at Camille curiously, but shyly, "I'm Livi."

Camille managed to smile, she liked the sight of the dryads, but she still wanted nothing more than to go home. So, naturally, her mood wasn't lifted too much by their presence, "Er, nice to meet you."

Instead of continuing the conversation, Livi shoot away through the trees and out of sight. Camille felt bad, thinking that she must have frightened or offended the young dryad. To her surprise she heard Gareth chuckle beside her as he pulled her into his home - Raanan following close behind.

"The dryads are quite cautious of anyone they don't know," Gareth said, beginning to rummage around his kitchen, pulling things out and placing them into the pack he had grabbed by the door, "Don't worry about it."

Filling his own pack, Raanan added, "You are a human, aren't you Camille?"

A little surprised by the question, Camille nodded, standing there awkwardly as they filled their packs, "Yes, are there not many around here?"

"Not usually," Raanan answered, closing his pack carefully, "The dryads around here have only ever seen the Kings and Queens; they're not accustomed to other humans."

"But there are others?" Camille pressed.

Gareth nodded after he closed his pack, "They live in Archenland and farther south in Telmar; besides the Kings and Queens, I have only ever seen a few of the Archenlanders."

After Gareth explained this to Camille, they stepped out of the house and back into the trees. Camille could feel her heart sinking as they pressed through the trees again, realizing that, even when they got to Cair Paravel, she may never be able to get home.

It had become obvious to her that Narnia and these other countries lived in a world separate from her own, and she doubted that the Kings and Queens - or Aslan, whoever he was - could help her get back.

**Author's note: I'm going to skip their whole travel to Cair Paravel ;) Why? Because it's not completely necessary to include. In case you're super curious about locations, Camille found herself near the Dancing Lawn when she entered Narnia. Don't worry, you will see recognizable characters from the books soon, like Tumnus for example. More should be coming in the next week. I'd say sooner, but I'm really busy this week.. Well, toodles for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

By the time they made it to Cair Paravel, Camille felt quite dirty and tired from the journey. She was willing to bet that her feet had numerous blisters and that her face was sunburned, but she was mostly miserable because she desperately wanted a bath. The journey had taken up most of the day, so they had been out when the sun had been the most intense. Camille guessed from the intensity of the sun that it was late summer in Narnia. Although she couldn't seem to understand how that was possible when it was mid-fall in England.

As much as she doubted the ability of these Kings and Queens to be able to send her home, she still couldn't deny that Cair Paravel was impressive. When she had first laid eyes on it in the distance, earlier in the day, she was amazed by the sheer size of the sand-colored stone castle that lay before her. When they were close enough to make out figures in the front courtyard, Camille found that she was even more impressed by the size of the castle up close. It stood on a short cliff side by the beach, and its towers hovered over them like massive giants. However, Camille wasn't sure if a real giant could be that tall either, but she couldn't know, seeing as she had never actually seen one.

As they entered the courtyard, they were greeted by a dryad that seemed to be a lot less shy than the ones that Camille had met the day before. As the dryad approached, Camille noticed that she had long, willowy hair and that her body seemed to be made up of something between that of a tree and that of a person. Camille wondered why she hadn't taken note of this appearance when she had met Livi, but she guessed that maybe the shade of the trees had made it harder for her to make out these physical features.

The dryad seemed to recognize Gareth and Raanan as she approached, and she spoke in an older, more mature voice than Livi had that morning, "Hello, Gareth and Raanan. What brings you to Cair Paravel this day?"

Gareth gently pushed Camille forward and into view, "Camille seeks an audience with the Kings and Queens with the hope that they may be able to send her home."

The dryad seemed to perk up at this news and replied, "I will tell them you seek their counsel, if you will follow me."

Then the dryad turned around and led them through the courtyard, through the front doors, and into the entry hall of the castle. Before they could continue on, they were greeted by a girl no older than Camille herself who was wearing a green gown that fell to the floor and a circlet on her head that was made of gold leaves and twisted, golden vines.

"Mae," she simply said in greeting, smiling at the dryad and the newcomers.

Camille saw Gareth and Raanan take bows on either side of her and, not knowing how to curtsy, bowed as well before Mae explained, "Gareth, Raanan, and Camille seek counsel with you and the High King today, my Lady."

After Mae, Gareth , Raanan, and Camille straightened again, they saw the girl-Queen looking at them curiously, particularly at Camille.

The Queen then turned to Mae, "I think Peter is already in the hall," she said, thoughtfully, "I suppose I will lead you there."

Mae then allowed the girl-Queen to lead them to the hall. Camille's mouth dropped open and hung ajar as they entered, she had never seen such a large room before; the ceiling hung high in the air and was painted to match the sky outside; the walls were painted with murals and Camille recognized the Queen in several of them; there were long, wooden tables that lined the hall; lastly, there were four chairs at the head, and the largest was occupied by the High King.

As the Queen took her seat beside the High King, Camille was finally able to make out the features of the King. He seemed to be only seventeen at most, as he had a young face. His face was young, but it also had a more serious look about it than the faces of the boys that Camille was accustomed to being around. He was dressed in a deep red, gold, and black tunic, and he wore a gold crown on his head that was considerably larger than the circlet the Queen wore. He also had short locks that were somewhere between brown and blonde. But the one thing that bothered Camille about his presence was that he had piercing blue eyes that were studying her, unchanging.

After a moment of staring at her, he dismissed Mae and looked to Gareth and Raanan. Another moment passed before he spoke to them, "Gareth and Raanan, what brings you to Cair Paravel today?"

"We have come with Camille," Gareth answered after a moment, bringing Camille to the King's attention again, "Who seeks help in returning home."

The High King's eyes pierced through Camille again, and she felt herself becoming extremely self-conscious. She pushed her brown hair behind her right ear and spoke before the King could, "I have no idea of whether or not you can help me," she began, unsure, "But I wish to return home to England."

At this, the Queen turned to the High King and they had a short conversation between themselves, too quiet for Camille or the fauns to hear. Impatiently, Camille waited, her brown eyes locked on them.

Finally, the King turned back to Camille and the fauns and spoke again, "I am afraid that we cannot help you to return ourselves. It seems as though Aslan may be the only one capable of sending you back."

Camille frowned, although she hadn't expected him to say anything different, and boldly said, "Have you ever even heard of England? It seems as though nobody here has."

The King lowered his brows at her, and she felt a fierce blush rising in her cheeks as he answered, "Yes, actually. My sisters, and my brother and I are from England ourselves. However, going back is complicated, for lack of a better word. If and when Aslan arrives, I suspect you will want to be here. Therefore, you may stay in Cair Paravel until the day arrives; Mae will show you to your room."

Sensing finality in his voice, Camille turned and followed Gareth and Raanan out of the hall. Once they were out in the corridor of the castle, Raanan turned to Camille and said, "In the future, try to be more respectful of the Kings and Queens. They will be a lot less eager to help you if you are rude to them."

Camille looked to Raanan but, before she could argue that the King and Queen were hardly older than herself, Mae appeared in front of them and offered to show Camille to her room.

Looking to Gareth and Raanan, Camille asked, "Will you be leaving now?"

The fauns looked between each other before Gareth finally said, "Raanan feels that he needs to go back, but I feel that I should stay; if Aslan does arrive, then I want to be here for it."

"Raanan," Camille started, unsure of exactly how to say goodbye to him, "Thank you for leading me here with Gareth."

"My pleasure," he said sincerely, before resting a hand on her shoulder and adding quietly, "Just remember what I said about being respectful."

Then he left, leaving Camille alone with Gareth and Mae, who had been quietly watching them. After he was gone, Mae led them up two staircases and down a corridor. Turning to the right, Mae led them down a second corridor and into the second door on the left.

The sheer size of the room was enough to make Camille stare around in awe, but the appearance of the room made her jaw drop for a second time that day. Instead of the sandstone or marble floors she had seen in the rest of the castle, there was a dark, hardwood floor in her room. The walls were a creamy white color, but Camille could swear that she could see different colors reflecting in the light of the evening sun. The ceiling was high in this room, too, but not nearly as high as the ceiling of the hall, it was also painted to reflect the sky outside. The furnishings in the room were made from the same wood as the floors - the bed frame and posts, the large wardrobe, the vanity, and the desk. Lastly, beside the bed, there was one large window in the room that reached to the ceiling, and the sun could be seen setting in the distance.

Mae saw the expression on Camille's face and smiled at her, "Your bathroom is through this door," she said, crossing over to a door on the left side of the room, "You will find that the bath has already been prepared for you. When you are done, I will lead you down to dinner."

"Thank you," Camille said to Mae, before Mae left the room to lead Gareth to his room.

**Author's Note: Well, I think things should be picking up a bit now. And I know I said you'd see Mr. Tumnus soon in the last chapter, but no worries - he's coming along soon ;) (Unless I change my mind again...) Anyway, I've finally settled on how the story is going to play out, so updates shouldn't be too incredibly slow. In fact, they'll only be slow because I have a pretty busy schedule!  
>Now I don't think pronunciations are completely necessary, but I thought I'd include them just in case :)<br>Thanks for reading and please review! I appreciate it :)**

_pronunciations-  
>Gareth :<em> Gair-eth  
><em>Raanan <em>: Raw-nun  
><em>Mae :<em> May


	4. Chapter 4

As Camille began re-dressing in her school uniform, now smelling like a mix of lavender and some exotic flower, she heard Mae from outside the door, "Miss, I can help you dress."

"Oh," Camille sighed, "I've actually already dressed myself."

Mae opened the door and entered the room as Camille yawned, making a face when she saw that Camille had put her uniform back on. Shaking her head, Mae crossed over to the wardrobe and opened it, reaching in to pull out a red gown with golden fabric hanging freely from the elbows.

Holding the gown up for Camille to admire, Mae said, "Are you sure you would rather wear your dirty clothes? I suspect High King Peter and Queen Susan would find this more appropriate."

Camille stared at Mae, confused, "I - I'm eating with them?"

Mae put the dress down on the bed as she answered, "We're not exactly holding a feast tonight, so yes. You will be joining them for dinner."

"What about Gareth?" Camille asked, frightened at the idea of eating alone with the King and Queen.

"I suspect that Gareth will be joining the other fauns, dear," Mae said, blinking at Camille, "Why do you ask?"

Camille frowned before answering, "I was just wondering if I would be dining with them alone.."

Mae smiled at Camille, "Don't worry about it, Miss. High King Peter and Queen Susan are quite pleasant once you get to know them. Besides, you won't be completely alone, but enough chit-chat for now. Are you sure you don't want to change?"

"Erm," Camille swallowed, attempting to smile at Mae, "I think I've changed my mind, now."

Smiling, Mae let Camille change back out of her uniform before helping her to put on the gown, which felt awkward and a little heavy compared to Camille's uniform. After Mae finished tying the back, however, the dress no longer felt heavy. Now it felt more form-fitting and, after looking at her own reflection in the mirror, Camille saw that it was quite form-fitting, but that it didn't look quite as awkward as it felt.

Mae then began pushing Camille into the chair in front of the vanity, insisting on fixing her hair. Camille protested at first, but after seeing the mess of loose, brown curls she stopped and allowed Mae to pull her hair back into a neat bun that was set low on the side of her head; a few loose curls hung down around her face, but Camille had to agree with Mae that they looked like they had been left down intentionally.

"Thank you Mae," Camille said as she took one last look in the mirror at her reflection.

Mae merely smiled and nodded as there was a knock on the door. Mae crossed over to open it and they saw Gareth standing just outside the room.

"I was going to walk down with Camille," he explained, before he saw Camille; he smiled at the sight of her, "Camille, you look like a queen yourself."

Camille beamed at Gareth, though her nerves were starting to make her stomach churn, "Thank you Gareth."

Mae then stepped out into the hall to escort them down to the smaller dining room by the great hall in the castle. Whenever Cair Paravel wasn't holding a feast or some other event the royals and their subjects would dine in the smaller room, Mae explained. As they entered the room, Camille saw that both the High King and Queen Susan were already sitting at a circular table, alone. Receiving a nod from Susan, Mae quickly exited the room, leaving Camille and Gareth standing there together.

Queen Susan smiled up at them, "You can sit down, there's no need to be shy."

Gareth seemed thrilled and pulled out a chair for Camille, who basically tripped into her seat, before sitting down in the chair next to her. An extra seat sat between Camille and the High King, while an extra seat sat between Gareth and Queen Susan.

Still blushing from basically falling into her seat, Camille noticed the High King looking at her with curious eyes, a small smile playing on his face. Avoiding his eyes, Camille turned to Susan and explained, "I'm sorry - erm - Queen Susan. I'm just not used to being around.. royalty."

Susan breathed a laugh, "No worries, Camille. In fact, you can just call me Susan - I tell everyone that, but they insist on formalities," she seemed to roll her eyes as she took a drink.

Camille saw Gareth look at Susan curiously a moment before he interjected, "But you are a Queen, Your Majesty."

Then Peter spoke for the first time, "Yes, but she - like myself - feels that our titles should only be used in formal affairs," when he first spoke his eyes rested on Gareth, but before he had finished speaking they were resting on Camille, who looked away after a moment, feeling her stomach starting to knot up again.

Then Gareth spoke again, "Where are King Edmund and Queen Lucy?"

"They've gone to visit Mr. Tumnus," Susan answered after taking a drink, "Lucy has wanted to go for some time and Edmund wanted to accompany her."

Satisfied with the answer, Gareth merely nodded and Camille tried to ignore the knotting of her stomach as she started eating, remaining silent for the most part throughout the meal.

After dinner, Camille let Mae lead her back up her room, yawning most of the way up. Camille felt very tired after everything that had happened that day and was surprised she hadn't drifted off during dinner. Mae helped her out of her gown before leaving the room; Camille was asleep even before Mae had left the room.

**Author's Note: I hope you can forgive me for making Susan nice :P But, in my defense, she is known as Queen Susan the Gentle! I feel like people forget that... Anyway, please review. I don't exactly require a certain number of them for updates, but the more reviews I get the more I will want to update..**


	5. Chapter 5

It was very late at night - or very early in the morning - when Camille woke with a start from her dreamless sleep. It was odd because she hadn't been dreaming and nothing had disturbed her; she had woken up with a start on her own. It wasn't until she moved to sit up that she noticed she was a little sweaty. Assuming it was the heat that had woken her up; she pushed down a layer of covers and attempted to fall back asleep.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she felt a wave of warm air hit her face unexpectedly, soft like a breeze in the night air. She opened her eyes again suddenly and realized that what had hit her face was the breath of a great lion that had somehow appeared in her room in less than a second.

"Do not be frightened, Daughter of Eve," the Lion said in a great voice that somehow filled the room, but was still something just above a whisper, "Come with me."

Camille found it a little funny that the overgrown lion told her to not be afraid because, somehow, he didn't truly scare her. If anything, she felt like she had been expecting him to come for a long time. Without question, she pushed the remaining covers away and rose to follow him out of her room.

It wasn't until after they had been walking for several minutes - down hallways and up staircases - that Camille began to feel tired again. She yawned silently a few times and rubbed her eyes, but the Lion didn't seem to notice.

Then, with little warning, the Lion stopped in the hallway they had been walking through and led Camille through a door that opened as he approached - as if by magic. Sleepily, Camille looked around the room, taking in the marble floors and the same color that painted the walls in her own room. It wasn't until the Lion stopped to face her that Camille noticed the pedestal, on which there laid a bronze flute. After taking a closer look, Camille realized that, in addition to it being bronze, that it wasn't a normal flute by any means, as it had strange markings engraved in the bronze, and the keys were set differently than what she would expect from the usual flute. It only took Camille a few moments to take in this detail before she looked up at the Lion again.

"You're Aslan," she asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question, "Aren't you?"

The Lion seemed to nod once, "Yes."

"Are you - I mean - _can__ you_ take me home?"

Aslan seemed to stare at her for a long time in silence before answering, "Yes, and I will - once you have learned what you have come to learn."

Camille had looked curiously down at the odd instrument as Aslan finished speaking, studying the way the odd keys curved around it.

"And what is it that I have to learn, exactly?"

To her slight surprise, Aslan smiled at her, "I'm afraid that - in order to learn it - that you will have to figure it out on your own, in your own time."

Camille frowned, "But Aslan that could take, "she hesitated, growing a little panicked in her fatigue," days or weeks... or months."

She couldn't bring herself to say years, the idea frightened her too much and she hoped that it wouldn't take her that long to learn whatever it was she needed to learn to go home.

Aslan seemed to shake his head, "Do not worry too much about the passage of time here, you will be returned to the time at which you left. But we have little time left to talk, so you must push aside your questions and worries and let me speak."

He paused, seeming to wait for Camille to give him some sign that she would. So she nodded once, finding it difficult to put her now very active and worried mind to rest.

"Now, I think I would be right in guessing that you are wondering why I brought you to this room, so I will explain… This bronze flute lying before us is named Finis, and it was made on the same day the White Witch's army lost in battle. It was made to suppress dark magic; like that the White Witch used herself. However, it was soon learned after Finis was created that no living creature in Narnia or the surrounding countries could play it.

You see, this is because a powerful object, like Finis, can only be used by one person - and one person alone," Aslan paused for a few moments before finishing, his eyes seeming to bore into Camille's, "You are the person Finis has been waiting for, Camille. When the time comes, you must take Finis from the pedestal and use it to stop whatever dark magic is brewing about."

Camille spluttered for a moment after Aslan finished explaining, before regaining her composure to say, "So this is what I have to learn - to play this _wonky_ bronze flute that supposedly suppresses dark magic - in order to go home?" Camille felt her face flushing with color in frustration, "I don't even know how to play a _normal_ flute, Aslan. I can't possibly learn to play this one when no one else can teach me."

Aslan's eyes seemed to soften before he simply said, "Finis was, in a way, made for you. You will find that, when the time comes, _it_ will play _for_ you... Now I am afraid that I must leave before I stay for too long. I will return when the time is right."

Then, before Camille could even think to protest, Aslan breathed his warm breath over her again and she gently fell to the floor, fast asleep.

In the morning, Camille woke in the bed in her guest room, and she didn't remember waking in the middle of the night or speaking to Aslan at all.

**Author's note: Well… please review haha ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Camille..."

"Yes?" Camille's eyes defogged and she turned to look at Gareth, whom she had been talking to a few evenings after she had spoken to Aslan - at this point she remembered it, but only thought it was a dream and nothing more. It was while she was talking to Gareth that she had trailed off mid-thought to take in the marvelous sunset in the west that turned the sky into brilliant shades of orange, purple, red, and pink.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, his large brown eyes surveying her face.

Before Camille could answer, she turned to the sound of Susan approaching them.

"It's about to be dark," Susan said, loudly enough for them to hear despite the fact that she was standing just outside the large, open doors to Cair Paravel and Camille and Gareth were standing together just inside the large courtyard, "and Camille, Peter would like to talk with you before you go to bed!"

A little confused, Camille felt a small blush graze her cheeks and her stomach turn in nervousness, she still wasn't entirely comfortable being around royals, despite the fact that she had been living with them for a few days and they were hardly older than herself.

"Okay!" Camille called back, and added quickly, "Thank you Queen Susan!"

Camille thought she could see Susan shake her head, and she remembered that Susan didn't necessarily like formalities. Then she remembered that Peter didn't really like them either, and she felt her stomach turn again at the thought of having to talk to him soon.

Camille turned her head back around, meaning to look back up at the changing colors in the sky, but the look on Gareth's curious face caught her eye.

Feeling a little frustrated with the knowing look he was giving her, she reluctantly asked, "What is it?"

With a small shake of his head, Gareth looked up at the sky once more before looking back to Camille, "It's nothing," he said, waving her question away, "we should probably go inside - I suspect that the High King will be waiting for you."

Nervously, Camille agreed with the faun and walked back to the castle with him, being careful not to tread on the long, light blue dress she was wearing that day as she crossed the courtyard.

Once they stepped inside the great front doors, which slowly swung closed after they entered, they were greeted by Mae, who turned to Camille.

"The High King wishes to speak with you in the west wing," she said with a small smile on her lips, "I can lead you there if you like."

"Erm," Camille bit her lip, trying to calm her nerves, "I think I can find my way on my own, thanks."

"Are you sure?" Mae asked as Camille began to push past her, earning a look from Gareth as she did.

"Yes," Camille said sharply as she picked up her dress and began to go up the stairs, "I know where it is."

Camille could hear Gareth apologize for her, but she pushed it from her mind as she went up the steps, still trying not to trip on her dress, or over her own feet, or even on thin air (which she sometimes did). She was a little annoyed with Mae for always persisting on helping her everywhere and with everything. In the mornings she was more likely to appreciate Mae when she brought up a new dress and fixed her hair for her, but Camille didn't want much more help than that; she was more than capable of taking care of herself (or so she thought).

Landing on the main floor of the west wing, Camille lowered her dress, but kept a hold of it just in case, and looked all around herself for any sign of the High King. As quietly as she possibly could be in heels, she crossed the open hall and peered through an open doorway.

The room faced the west and was decorated only a little different from Camille's room. Instead of a bed, dresser, vanity, and a wardrobe, it held two large couches that faced each other, two writing desks, and several bookcases that lined most of the walls.

Being able to see the sunset through the windows on the opposite side of the room, Camille carefully stepped in and surveyed the room to make sure it was deserted before crossing over to one of the large windows.

Letting out a small sigh, Camille sat on the inside of the windowsill - which was just large enough and low enough for her to comfortably sit on - and watched the sky turn from dark shades of red to dark shades of purple to dark shades of blue. Camille couldn't deny the beauty of the sunsets in Narnia (or the sunrises, when she saw them), but she still desperately wanted to go back home.

Thinking over the memory of the night when she spoke with Aslan, which she still thought was a dream, she frowned. She hadn't tried to find the room that held Finis simply because she didn't think it existed, nor did she think that, if it did exist, that she would be able to find the room again anyway. She was, however, mostly frustrated because, in believing that talking to Aslan was a dream, she truly believed that there was little to no hope of her returning home.

She sat there at the windowsill long after the sun set behind the far-off mountains in the distance, growing so frustrated and so full of helpless longing that she was very nearly moved to tears before she heard the sound of approaching footfalls.

"Camille?" the sound of Peter's voice startled her, and she flinched, her head snapping up in the same movement.

Camille's face felt heavy, like someone had glued a thick, heavy mask to it when she wasn't paying attention. Putting a hand to the side of her face, she knew that wasn't the case, but her face still felt weighed down. Then she realized that it was her own feelings of hopelessness that made her face feel that way.

She didn't answer him with words, but, unintentionally, with the expression on her face. She fought to force away the frown that had formed on her face, but she couldn't without some kind of a distraction from her thoughts. So, in seeing this, Peter had slowly crossed over to her and offered her his hand.

A little reluctantly, Camille took his hand and let him help her up. She couldn't help but notice that he had a strong, yet gentle grip; it reminded her of how his eyes could be piercing, but as gentle as ever at the same time. He led her over to one of the couches and he sat down beside her, leaving about a foot of distance between them.

"Susan said you wanted to talk to me," Camille said in a small voice, breaking the pressing silence between them.

"Oh," Peter seemed to shift a little as he remembered, "Yes. I was just wanting to tell you that we are considering going looking for Aslan... Well, once Ed and Lucy come back."

Camille looked at him for the first time since he had helped her up from the windowsill, raising a brow slightly, "You are? But I thought that you couldn't go to Aslan... I thought he had to come here."

Peter frowned at this and put a hand to the back of his neck for a moment, "That's normally the case and I can't promise that we'll even find him - or his country, for that matter - but we feel badly that we can't help you ourselves. It's the least we can do."

Camille looked away from him again, thinking. She couldn't help but feel a small spark of hope at the idea, but, at the same time, she didn't want Peter or his siblings to possibly waste time looking for Aslan with very little chance of even finding him or reaching him. The idea of tearing them away from their kingdom to do that for who-knows-how-long didn't settle well with her conscience.

She shook her head without really realizing it and looked back up at him, taking in the unreadable expression on his face, but the sincerity in his blue eyes, "No," she cut across the silence sharply, "No, that's just a..." she trailed off to pick out the right word, but ended up settling on the first word that had come to mind anyway, "a _ridiculous_idea, Peter. As much as I hate the idea of just waiting, I think that it's a much better idea."

"Are you sure?" Peter began to press, but he was shushed by the look Camille gave him.

_Quit making this harder than it already is_, she thought before answering, making a very large effort to keep any hint of regret out of her voice as she did, "I'm positive, Peter."

Peter didn't say anything else after that, instead interesting himself in the patterns in the rug on the floor.

"Erm," Camille began awkwardly, "Is that all?"

It took Peter a second to snap back to reality and say, "Yeah, that's all."

"Okay then," Camille said, feeling even more awkward as the seconds passed, "I'm going... to go to bed now."

As she slowly rose from the couch, Peter did as well, saying good night to her as he did. Camille locked eyes with him after he did and felt her face start to flush. To avoid him possibly seeing her face turn red, she broke eye contact and turned to walk toward the door.

Pausing just inside the doorway, she froze to turn back around for a moment. Giving him a small smile, she said, "Good night, Peter," before turning back around and walking quickly out the door.

The more Camille walked, the more she thought over what had just happened and the more she wondered why she felt so awkward around Peter... and the more she wondered why her face had flushed and why it still hadn't cooled down even after she reached her room a couple of minutes later.

Leaning against the inside of her bedroom door, Camille sank down until she was sitting on the ground with her back against it. No, she convinced herself, it didn't mean anything. He was a king and that just made her nervous, that was all.

**Author's note: Sorry it's been so long! I got called into work so much this past week it's been just completely ridiculous! The next two-three weeks should be pretty busy too, but I think I can update again in about three-six days time... Anyway, review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Camille was getting very annoyed with her dress that day.

Unlike the dresses she had been wearing since she had arrived at Cair Paravel, this one was just slightly too long. Even in the heels Mae had given her she was tripping on the hem of the dress with nearly every step she took. At first she tried to manage it by taking baby steps, but when she realized how slow she was walking she changed tactics. Lifting the dress seemed to be the only effective way for her to walk without tripping over it. As the day went on, Camille started to really notice her feet aching from the heels, and while she was walking down to the beach by herself she quickly slipped them off and left them behind.

Without her heels on, Camille needed to lift the dress even higher up so that she wouldn't trip over it. However, because she wasn't the most coordinated person, she still had to carefully watch where she was stepping until her feet met the sand. The wind blowing off the sea was slightly chilly, so when she stepped onto the warm sand she felt the urge to sit down in it.

Yet when she gave in and sat down, she then remembered she was wearing a very nice dress that belonged to the people that she had been living with for the last week. Frowning in frustration that she had probably just covered most of the dress in sand, Camille sighed before deciding to just go ahead and lay down on her back. At that point, it really didn't matter if she laid down in the sand and rolled around in it or stood up and attempted to brush the sand off the dress. Either way, the dress was basically covered.

Camille turned her head to the side to face the sea, noticing a couple of crabs scuttling along further down the beach. She watched them for a little while, glad that they weren't interested in her. In fact, Camille laid there in the white sand for so long that she was beginning to think that the side of her face would be sunburned, so she slowly rose into a sitting position.

Looking up and down the beach, and back up toward the castle, she realized that she was still alone. When she had first started for the beach she was looking for some time alone, but now that she actually was alone she was starting to become bored. Instead of heading back to Cair Paravel, however, she rose to her barefeet, picked up her dress, and slowly walked to the water before stopping in the wet sand to wait for the waves to come in and wash over her feet.

It wasn't until Camille had been standing there for several minutes that she realized she had failed to pick up the back of the dress and that it had become covered in wet sand. Frowning again, she shook her head before figuring that she may as well step further into the water. But when she was in mid-step someone called out to her suddenly, "What are you doing?"

Startled, Camille dropped the hem of the dress and tried to twirl around to see who had shouted at her. Unfortunately one of her feet became tangled in the dress while the other lost its grip with the wet sand and she fell face-first into the shallow water. She managed to put out her hands to catch herself, but not quite quickly enough because her head still hit the surface of the water. She pushed herself around into a sitting position and coughed as she tried to rid her lungs and nose of the saltwater.

Suddenly the voice that called out to her was in the shallow water beside her, "Are you okay?"

Opening her eyes for the first time since she had fallen in the water, Camille blinked when she saw Peter kneeling beside her. She blinked again because her eyes stung from the saltwater that had stung them and her sinuses, her mouth hanging slightly open as she stared at him.

"Are you okay?" He repeated, and she realized that he was trying to suppress a smile.

Nodding, Camille put a hand to her head and realized that her hair was not only soaked, but that it also had quite a bit of wet sand in it. Peter smiled at her and offered her his hand. When he helped her to her feet, she realized that her dress was still tangled around her feet though and then started to bend over to untangle it. But she was stopped by Peter, who scooped her up into his arms before treading out of the water and over the sand. When they reached the point where the grass met the sand he carefully set her down and she immediately went to untangling her soaked dress so that she could hide the intense blush that had made its way into her cheeks.

"Where are your shoes?" he asked when she straightened back up to face him.

"Erm," Camille bit her lip as she looked around. When she spotted the heels she pointed to them and said, "Over there."

Without another word, Peter turned and went to retrieve them. Camille found herself watching him as he did before starting to pick up her dress again and walk toward him. If she had thought that walking in the dress was hard before, it was even more difficult now. Not only was the dress slightly longer now that it was soaked, but it was also considerably heavier than before and Camille already felt a little shaky after falling into the water. When Peter noticed that she was struggling with it he offered to carry her the rest of the way, but Camille refused.

"I'm fine, thanks," she insisted, a moment later wishing she had just held her tongue and let him carry her.

Of course, because Camille didn't have the best coordination, or the best luck, about a minute later she stumbled over her own feet and nearly fell over again. The only reason why she didn't fall over is because Peter had dropped her shoes to steady her. Blushing again, Camille met his blue eyes with hers and muttered, "Thanks."

After a moment Peter managed a smile and said, "You're welcome, but now I think that I should definitely carry you the rest of the way."

"All right," Camille found herself smiling back at him, "Just hand me my shoes."

Then Peter obliged before picking her up again. Feeling a little strange about being carried, Camille carefully placed one of her arms over his shoulders while her other hand clutched the heels.

"Do you carry people often?" she asked, trying to make herself feel less awkward.

To her surprise, Peter laughed before replying, "No, definitely not often."

Camille pondered this answer for a little while before asking something else, "So what were you doing by the beach?"

"What were you doing stepping into the water?" Peter countered. As he spoke his eyes met hers again and, while his face was mostly blank, she could tell that he was merely messing with her.

It was in this moment that Camille realized, with some surprise, that she really liked Peter. At the realization she dropped her gaze again as she shrugged, "You should probably keep your eyes on the ground. If you drop me I won't be too happy about it."

Again, Peter laughed. But he made no remark over it and merely repeated his former question, "Seriously, Camille, what were you doing?"

"Maybe I wanted to go for a swim."

"In this dress? Are you kidding?"

"I'm a strong swimmer," she shrugged again. It was true; Camille was actually a very strong swimmer. However, Peter still had a point considering the dress was already quite heavy even when it was dry.

"Really?"

"Really," she repeated, meeting his eyes again to let him know she was serious. Yet, when she looked at him this time her stomach seemed to drop. Looking away again, she added, "I figured that I had already gotten the dress dirty enough that it didn't matter if it got a little wet."

At this time they had reached the courtyard and, before Peter could think to say anything in reply, he stopped at the sight of his sister Susan, the dryad Mae, and the faun Mr. Tumnus. Camille wondered for a moment if Peter was going to set her down when she noticed the looks on their faces, but he didn't. Actually, none of them seemed to pay much notice to the fact that Camille was in Peter's arms as he asked, "What's going on? Where are Ed and Lucy?"

"They're gone," Susan answered, "Mr. Tumnus was just telling us that they never arrived."

Judging by the stricken expression on his face, Camille was momentarily afraid that he was going to drop her, but his grip on her tightened instead. Susan continued, "Nobody knows for sure what happened, but all that's clear is that they went missing overnight. And there are rumors that they were seen heading north."

"Towards Ettinsmoor?" Peter asked, his expression turning sterner.

Frowning, Susan nodded, "Yes."

Then Peter set Camille down and said, "Mae, help Camille to wash up. Mr. Tumnus, I would like to speak with you and Susan."

Camille slowly began to pick up the hem of her dress, letting Peter and the others leave her and Mae behind. Once she had a good grip on her dress and handed the heels to Mae, she stared after them as they entered the castle, wanting to follow them but knowing that she should at least wash the sand out of her hair first. "Come on," Mae said, putting her free hand on Camille's elbow, "Let's get you clean."

She then let Mae lead her into the castle. Once they had put a staircase and a long hallway between them and the others, Camille looked to Mae, "Mae, what's in Ettinsmoor? Peter and Susan have told me about all of the other places around Narnia except for Ettinsmoor."

Mae seemed to hesitate for a few moments before she gave Camille her answer, "Well, there are giants up there and other nasty things. But, what they are exactly, I do not know. Nor do I wish to know for that matter."

Sensing the tension in Mae's voice, Camille didn't question her any further as they found her room. Quickly, she washed the sand from her hair and changed into a golden dress that was light as air compared to the one she had been wearing earlier. As Camille twirled around in it, she was glad that it was short enough that she didn't need to wear shoes with it if she didn't want to.

**A/N: So it's been quite a while since my last update. V_V I'm really really sorry about that. I honestly didn't intend to not update this for so long. Anyway, the next update should be pretty soon, considering I'm already writing the next chapter :)**


	8. Chapter 8

"So there are giants in Ettinsmoor?" Camille asked as Mae began to comb through her hair, "I'm guessing they aren't friendly by the way you were talking earlier?"

Mae kept her eyes on Camille's dark hair as she confirmed, "No, they're definitely not friendly."

Camille stared into her own brown eyes in the mirror for a couple of minutes before she asked another question, "Do you think that Peter will go there to look for Edmund and Lucy?"

The dryad seemed to sigh as she started to separate Camille's curly hair, "I won't pretend to know what the High King will plan to do, but it would not surprise me if he did. Would you like me to braid your hair or leave it down?"

Looking at her curls, Camille decided that she wanted to find Peter and the others as soon as possible. So she quickly answered, "Leave it down, I don't want to have to undo a braid before bed tonight."

Camille thought that Mae might insist that she would take it down for her, so when Mae merely said, "Okay," and finished placing her curls, Camille was a little surprised.

Once Mae was done, Camille rose to her feet and was about to walk to the door before turning around and giving Mae a quick hug that was kind of strange. Strange because Camille wasn't exactly expecting Mae to feel more like a person than a tree. "Thanks for everything, Mae."

Mae seemed to be surprised, but smiled back at her just the same as she said, "You're welcome."

Then Camille hurried from the room, realizing she was still barefoot when her feet came into contact with the cold stone floor. Shuddering for a moment, Camille considered going back into her room to get some shoes before deciding that finding the others was more important. So she quickly started down the hall and wound her way through the castle until she was standing in the entrance hall.

But it wasn't until Camille was standing in the entrance hall that she realized she wasn't even sure of where they would have gone to talk. Surely they wouldn't have moved their discussion to the great hall. Other than the great hall, however, Camille had next to no idea of where they would be. So she paced the floor of the hall for a few minutes as she tried to think before finally deciding that it wouldn't do her any good to wait there. So she started to venture around the castle alone.

At first she headed to the great hall and pressed her ear up against the door, but when she didn't hear anything she moved on. As she went she was careful to be aware of her surroundings, keeping her ears and eyes open for any sign of movement or voices. Every time she passed a door she would hesitate to press her ear to it before deciding the room was unoccupied and moving on. She kept up this routine until she had pressed her ear up to at least three dozen different doors on the first floor alone before sighing audibly and deciding to give it up.

Disappointed, she began to head back to the entrance hall. She was thinking that she would go outside again and see if she could find Gareth hanging around the courtyard, but just as she was about to push the door open to the outside she heard a far-off door shut from within the castle. Whipping around, Camille's eyes darted all around the hall as she tried to determine where the sound had come from. After a moment she frowned and sighed again, realizing that she could merely guess which direction the sound came from. Deciding to abandon the idea of finding Gareth, she started up the nearest staircase and began to aimlessly wander around the castle.

It had been a while since Camille had walked through the castle with no real destination in mind, and she considered stopping by her room to put on some shoes before deciding against it again. She really didn't mind that her toes were starting to numb a little from the cold. After they had been warmed by the sand earlier it wasn't too uncomfortable.

Soon enough, Camille started to become lost as she walked through another long hallway several stories up. She had lost count of how many staircases she had gone up somewhere between three and four. However, when she reached the top of yet another staircase, she realized that she was no longer lost when she recognized the landing.

It was the floor that she had followed Aslan to in her dream. At least she still thought it was nothing more than a strange dream, but at the same time she felt quite odd when she hesitated at the top of the stairs. Slowly, she started to walk down the hallway, her feet having warmed up the higher she went in the castle. Then she turned a corner and, having recognized it too, she continued down the next hall until she stopped at a door.

Turning to look at it curiously, Camille became certain it was the door that opened up to the room where Finis was lying on the pedestal. Looking up and down the hall, she determined that she was far away from anyone else in the castle and stepped toward the door. She reached for the handle hesitantly and quietly twisted it open. Stepping inside, her eyes immediately found the pedestal and she stared at if for a while before shutting the door behind herself.

Feeling more and more like she ought not to be there, but at the same time that she needed to be there, Camille crossed the cold floor to the pedestal. When she reached it her breath caught in her throat for a moment at the sight of the instrument, just as she had dreamed it. Staring at it, the memory started to come back to her clearer than before and, just as she was about to reach out to pick it up, she heard the knob to the door start to twist open.

With amazing speed, Camille located a tapestry hanging on one of the walls and quickly hid herself behind it. She didn't dare to try to see who had entered the room, but when she looked down to her feet and realized the tapestry didn't fall to the floor in front of them she inhaled sharply. Remaining completely still, she hoped that whoever it was wouldn't give the tapestry more than a glance.

However, she then heard the footsteps approach the tapestry, and saw Peter's face peer behind the tapestry at her in surprise. He raised a brow for a moment as Camille stared at him, feeling incredibly embarrassed, and then he seemed to breathe a laugh, "Camille? What are you doing back here?"

"I – I," Camille stammered on for a moment as her face flushed.

"Come on," Peter said, stepping out of the way of the opening between the tapestry and the wall. Reluctantly, Camille stepped out from behind the tapestry to reveal her pink face. Peter either didn't notice or didn't care, or maybe he knew she was embarrassed and didn't want to embarrass her further, so he didn't comment on it. Actually, he didn't say anything else as they stared at one another for a few seconds.

"How did you know I was here?" Camille managed to ask.

"Well, your bare feet were in plain sight," he answered as he tried not to laugh, "Why were you hiding?"

"I'm not sure, really. I just heard the handle turning and felt that I should for some reason. Why did you come in here, though?"

At this, Peter seemed to look a little embarrassed, but he answered anyway, "I was just looking for a place where I wouldn't be bothered."

"Oh," Camille suddenly felt that she should leave so he could be alone, "Then I'll just go I guess."

"No," Peter said suddenly, before adding, "You don't have to go. Why did you come here?"

Camille's eyes traveled from his face to the pedestal where Finis was lying, and Peter glanced over to it as well. When their eyes met again, Camille answered, "I'm not really sure. I wasn't even looking for this room in the first place, but when I found it I was a bit surprised."

Again, he raised a brow, "Surprised?"

Looking back at him, Camille decided at once to just tell him what had happened, "Well I was led up here the other night, but I thought I had just had a dream about it so I was surprised to find that this room was real."

Peter's brow came back down, and she couldn't read the look on his face when he asked, "Who led you up here?"

Camille bit her lip for a moment before admitting, "Aslan. I think it was him, anyway. Well, no, I'm actually quite positive it was Aslan."

Then Peter quickly enclosed the space between them and gently placed his hands on her arms, gazing at her so intensely that her breath seemed to catch in her throat again. "Aslan led you here? What did he say?"

Once again, Camille stammered for a few moments before managing to muster up a reply, "He told me what I need to do so that I can leave, and he told me about Finis." As she spoke her eyes went from his face and back to the pedestal, "I need to learn something before he'll send me home. That's what he said."

"What about Finis?" He seemed to look confused as he released her arms, "Did Aslan tell you who can play Finis?"

Camille nodded once and said, "It's me. Aslan said that I can play Finis."

Peter didn't appear to be too shocked at this piece of information. He had actually already guessed that it was her when she told him that Aslan had spoken to her about the flute. "Then you should play it," he insisted, "I mean that if you're meant to play Finis then you should."

At first, Camille was eager to pick up the flute. So she crossed the room to the pedestal with Peter on her heels. But when she found herself staring down at it she felt the same confliction she had when she had first walked into the room. She felt like she shouldn't be there, but at the same time like she was supposed to be there. The longer she stared down at Finis, however, the more she felt like she wasn't meant to pick it up just yet.

Looking over her shoulder at Peter, she shook her head. As her curls bounced around she apologized, "I'm sorry, but I can't right now." Before Peter could so much as follow her, Camille turned on her heel and quickly fled the room, running through the halls and down the stairs until she had shut herself up in her room.


	9. Chapter 9

When Camille was woken up by her grumbling stomach the next morning she remembered with a groan that she had missed dinner. Crossing over to her window, she could see the sun starting to rise and realized that she was awake much earlier than usual. Mae would typically wake her maybe an hour or two after the sun came up. As she looked around the room she spotted the gold dress she had been wearing the night before and decided she would much rather put it back on than walk through the castle in her nightgown.

Camille scarcely bothered to look at herself in the mirror before quietly slipping from her room and heading downstairs to the kitchen. When she pushed the door open, however, she realized that she wasn't the only one awake when she met Peter's eyes from the other end of the room. For a moment she considered backing up and out the door, but then she stepped through the door at the sight of the bread on the table.

As she was picking up a roll, Peter asked, "Did you skip dinner too?"

Because Camille had just taken a bite, she only nodded in reply.

Then Peter took another roll and the two of them ate in silence for a few minutes before Peter started to say, "I'm sorry if I upset you last night. I wasn't trying to."

Camille shook her head and said, "You didn't."

"Then why did you run out?"

When Camille looked at him she realized that he looked concerned and she looked away again when she shrugged and replied, "I don't know. It just didn't feel right." Then she paused for a few moments before looking up at him again, "Why did you skip dinner last night?"

This time, Peter avoided her eyes as he answered, "I just wasn't hungry."

Camille frowned at this, though, it seeming to only just dawn on her that Peter must be really worried about his brother and sister, "Oh. I'm sorry I asked."

"Oh, no it's fine," Peter insisted, before joking, "Besides, it's not the first time I've gone without dinner."

He managed to get a small laugh out of Camille before she shook her head at him, "You like to joke a lot, don't you?"

Subtly coming closer to her, Peter said, "I wouldn't say 'a lot,' exactly. But yes, I do like to joke around."

It didn't seem to occur to Camille that the space between them was slowly starting to close and she continued to eat the bread on the table without worrying about it. When she didn't have any kind of response to what Peter had said, he spoke again, "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Smiling, she replied sarcastically, "You've already asked one, but no I don't mind if you ask another one."

Shaking his head, Peter asked, "I was wondering what you were expecting when you first came here."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean to ask if you were expecting to see someone a bit older sitting on the throne."

Camille had been wondering if she really liked Peter since the day before when it seemed to dawn on her that she did. She had been a bit confused by it, considering she didn't even know him that well. But when their eyes met this time she couldn't deny to herself that she did. There was just something about him that drew her in. So when she replied she could feel butterflies swarming around in her stomach uncomfortably, "Well, I was expecting that you would be older, to be honest."

"Were you disappointed when you met me, then?"

It took her a long while to reply, seeing as she had to think about it before she remembered how she had felt when she first saw him. Frowning, she replied, "I was a little bit at first."

"At first?"

She nodded, "I was just skeptical is all."

Peter raised a brow, "And you're not now?"

"Well, no," Camille was still frowning.

Then both of his brows came together, "Why not?"

"Well," Camille trailed off, her eyes looking around the room for a little while before she answered, "You intimidated me, I guess."

At this, Peter's face dropped to a look of surprise, "I intimidate you?"

"Well no," Camille insisted, although her face contradicted what she said, seeing as she looked somewhat frightened, "I mean you did when I first met you, but you don't now."

As Camille had been talking she had looked away from him again, and as she was about to put her hand to her face, she was startled when Peter gently pushed it back down to her side and then took hold of it. Surprised and feeling her face start to flush, Camille continued to look away from him, which was the opposite of what Peter was expecting her to do. "I wasn't trying to intimidate you," he said, becoming confused and starting to feel worse than he already did when she still wouldn't look at him, "I'm sorry that I did."

"It's fine," she said after a moment. Then she took a deep breath and looked at him again, thinking that her face must still be flushed with color, "I mean, aren't you supposed to be intimidating?"

Peter was surprised to see the blush on her cheeks, but he didn't know why it was there when he shook his head, "No. I'd prefer it if I were only intimidating to those I need to intimidate. If I'm intimidating you then I must be doing something wrong, you don't need to be afraid of me."

Camille tried to pull her hand out of his, but his grip was too firm. Letting her hand relax again, although she couldn't seem to get the butterflies in her stomach to, she said, "I'm not afraid of you."

Peter had noticed that she had tried to pull her hand away from his, but he didn't let her because he was afraid that she would run off again. However, when she said that she wasn't afraid of him he released her hand, thinking that she wouldn't run off if it were true. To his relief she didn't run off when he did. In fact, she didn't move away from him in any way. He was about to ask her why she was blushing when she asked first, "When are you leaving?"

It took him a minute to realize what she was asking, "We should be leaving tomorrow."

"Is Susan going, too?"

Peter shook his head, still wondering why her face had flushed even as he said, "No, she's staying behind. But, believe me; she would come if I asked her to."

"Oh," Camille's face fell.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Camille said, her eyes locked on his, "I'm just assuming you didn't ask her because it'll be too dangerous."

"Well, yes. I mean there are giants in Ettinsmoor," he said casually, "I don't want to bring Susan along for that."

"I know," Camille said quietly, "Mae told me about them."

Then Peter took her hand once again, but this time Camille didn't try to hide her face even as she could hear her pulse quicken in her ears. Seeing her face flush again, it suddenly dawned on Peter why Camille's face kept blushing. Smiling at the realization, he said, "Don't worry, Camille. This isn't the first time I've had to face a giant, nor will it be the last."

Then he held her gaze as he lifted her hand to his face and kissed it, making her face burn even more furiously than before. Without another word he dropped her hand and quickly left the room, leaving Camille alone so that she could regain her composure. It took her a few minutes to do so, actually, considering she seemed to have been deafened by her pulse as he left the room. However, she couldn't help wondering why he had smiled at her so coyly before kissing her hand, and why seeing him smile at her like that made her heart seem to lift up and out of her chest.

**A/N: So this chapter turned out quite a bit shorter than I expected. I'll see if I can't make the next one longer. Please review and stuff - I always like feedback :)**


	10. Chapter 10

"Mae," Susan called to the dryad before she could leave the room, "Where's Peter?"

Turning around, Mae said, "He's preparing for tomorrow, Queen Susan."

"Oh," Susan's eyes went back to her plate, "okay."

Camille, who had just had a few rolls only an hour before, still joined Susan for breakfast. Camille thought about asking Mae if she knew where Gareth was, too, but the dryad had already left the room before she could say anything.

"You know," Susan started, her eyes going between Camille and her plate, "I don't see why Peter always insists on me staying behind. It gets so dull around here and it's not like I've never been in a battle or anything."

"Wait," Camille's brow traveled up her forehead, "Are you saying that you _want_ to go with him?"

Smiling at Camille, Susan answered, "I did."

Camille's brow traveled even further up her forehead. But before she could ask what Susan meant, Gareth quickly walked into the room. "Gareth?" Susan looked confused to see him there, "Shouldn't you be preparing for tomorrow as well?"

"Wait," Camille said again, looking at Gareth, "You're leaving, too?"

"I was going to leave," Gareth said, taking a seat beside Camille, "However, the High King told me several minutes ago to stay here, in Cair Paravel."

Susan seemed to be even more confused than before, "Did he say why?"

Gareth glanced at Camille for a moment before looking back at Susan, "He did not."

Then Susan gave Camille a look before going back to her breakfast, and Camille realized that Susan thought that Peter had asked Gareth to keep an eye on her. This, of course, made Camille wonder if Susan would stay in Cair Paravel once Peter left.

Later, as Camille was about to head outside she heard Gareth call after her, "Camille!"

Turning around, she frowned at the sight of the faun approaching her. Camille had wanted to be alone, so it had somewhat disappointed her that Gareth wanted to talk to her. Regardless, she forced the frown to twist up into a smile as he reached her, "What is it?"

It occurred to Camille that Gareth was looking at her strangely as he said, "Let's find a place a bit more private and then I'll tell you."

"Okay," Camille sounded unsure, but allowed Gareth to lead her to a small room just off the entrance hall. "What's going on?"

"Well," Gareth started, still looking at Camille strangely, "To start with, the High King did tell me why he wanted me to stay behind."

"Oh," Camille was surprised that Gareth had lied to Susan, but she assumed it was because Peter had told him to keep an eye on her, "Why didn't you tell Susan?"

Gareth looked uncomfortable, "Because he told me not to say anything to her."

"So he does want you to keep an eye on her, then?"

"Yes," Gareth admitted, "That is part of it, at least."

Camille's brows came together in confusion, "Part of it? What's the other part, then?"

"He asked me to keep an eye on you, too."

If Camille was confused before, she was _very_ confused now, "What? Why?"

"I was hoping you would tell me that," Gareth said, looking confused as well, "He told me to keep an eye on Queen Susan because he was afraid that she would follow him. But when I asked why he wanted me to keep an eye on you he even admitted that he didn't think you would follow. Actually, he told me that even if Susan did follow him to stay here with you."

It took Camille a very long time to ask, "Where was he when he told you this, exactly?"

Once Gareth explained that Peter had been out talking with several other Narnians, in particular to a few centaurs, Camille hurried out to find him. As she was stepping out of the courtyard she saw Peter and started towards him, thankful that she didn't have to search the grounds for him.

"Peter!" She called out to him, not caring that he was in the middle of a conversation with a centaur. At the sound of her calling to him, both Peter and the centaur looked up to see her nearly trip on her dress as she approached.

Peter apologized to Bane, the centaur, before stepping aside to speak quietly to Camille, "I can't talk right now, Cam. We were in the middle of-"

But Camille cut across him, "Why did you tell Gareth to keep an eye on me?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Peter noticed Bane looking at them curiously, "Really, Cam. I can't talk right now. I'll come and talk to you later, I promise."

"Why did you tell him to stay with me even if Susan left?" Camille was flustered, "She's your sister!"

"Camille," Peter said firmly, gently taking hold of her arms, "I'll explain later. Please, go."

"But-"

"Please," she could see that his eyes were pleading and her voice died in her throat. Slowly, she nodded in agreement, feeling her face start to flush from embarrassment. Then she turned and hurried back toward the castle. Again, Peter apologized to Bane and they continued their conversation.

When Camille re-entered the castle she came face-to-face with Gareth and Mae. The two of them were looking at her in confusion, but it was Gareth that asked, "What did you say to him?"

"I asked him why he wanted you to stay with me even if Susan left," Camille answered curtly, not hesitating for even a moment to explain.

She was surprised when Gareth didn't follow her to ask more, but she was relieved at the same time. She didn't necessarily want to explain that she had just embarrassed herself in front of Peter, again. Mae, however, did follow her. But when Camille told Mae that she wanted to be left alone she obliged.

Camille wasn't alone for too long before there was a knock on her door, louder than the usual tap that Mae would give before she would be let in. Thinking it was probably Gareth, Camille was surprised when she opened her door just a crack to see Susan standing outside the door. "Is it okay if I come in?" She asked, tilting her head slightly, "I'd rather we had this conversation inside."

After a moment, Camille nodded and opened the door for Susan, who let herself inside before quietly shutting the door behind her. Turning around, Susan offered Camille an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry. I knew you wanted to be left alone, but I assume that means we won't be disturbed." Susan stepped over to the vanity and sat down. "I think I'll just get to the point now, just in case we are interrupted," then Susan asked quietly, "Do you want to come with me once Peter leaves? I thought that maybe you did, considering Peter wants Gareth to keep an eye on you as well, but I figured I may as well ask."

Camille was surprised that Susan was asking, but not for the reason she thought she would be surprised. Truthfully, Camille found part of her wanting to go with Susan, despite that it would not only be against Peter's wishes, but that it would also be dangerous. That was what surprised her. On the other hand, there was the other part of her that would much rather stay behind and wait for him to return, even if she would probably be bored to tears by herself. So Camille didn't know how to answer, and asked a question instead, "So you _are_ going to follow him?"

Susan nodded, "Yes, I am."

"But why are you telling me?" Camille didn't understand why Susan seemed to trust her not to tell Peter.

"Well, I don't think it would matter if you told Peter I was planning to follow him or not."

"Why not?"

Susan seemed to be amused, "Because he already knows that I plan to follow him, otherwise he wouldn't have asked Gareth to stay behind. Although," Susan mused, "he also seems to think that you might try to leave, which brings me back to my first question. Do you want to come with me? We'd leave tomorrow night, so we wouldn't be too far behind him, and Gareth could come with us."

"But isn't Gareth supposed to be keeping us from leaving?"

Shrugging, Susan answered, "Yes, but if he couldn't keep us from leaving he would probably feel obligated to come with us, considering Peter has ordered him to keep an eye on us. Besides, Gareth wanted to go with Peter anyway. So are you up to it or not?"

"I-" Camille hesitated, but before she could answer there was a second knock on her door.

Looking to Susan, Camille realized that she looked slightly shaken. "I'm not here," she whispered before rising from the chair and crossing over to the bathroom, shutting the door just as there was a second knock on the other door. Taking a deep breath, Camille stepped over to the door and opened it just a crack like she had done before.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Peter asked, looking at her through the crack in the door.

Camille glanced over her shoulder to the bathroom door, wondering if Susan would eavesdrop on their conversation or not. Then she opened the door a little wider and asked him quietly, "Why did you tell Gareth to stay with me even if Susan left?"

He didn't understand why Camille was trying to be quiet, but when he answered he was quiet anyway, "Because, Cam," his face slowly breaking into a grin, "I'd prefer it if someone watched over you."

This, however, made Camille even more confused and slightly agitated. "I don't know if you know this, Peter, but I'm not the kind of person that goes looking for trouble. I don't need to be babysat."

"I didn't ask him to babysit you," Peter was amused, but he successfully suppressed a smirk, "I just asked him to keep an eye on you."

When Camille didn't say anything, but just studied his face with a confused expression, Peter's face fell slightly. "Let's put it this way. If Susan and Gareth left you would essentially be alone. Now, because Ed and Lucy have mysteriously gone missing, I don't think it would be best for me to leave you, er," he hesitated to find the right word, "unprotected."

"But wouldn't Susan be alone, then?"

Shaking his head, Peter answered, "No. I suspect she would find someone to accompany her."

"Oh," Camille fell silent.

"Is that all, Cam?" Peter asked kindly, smiling at her.

She nodded slowly, a pink blush coloring her cheeks, "Yes."

Peter merely smiled at her and started to turn to leave, but he had only taken a few steps when Camille stepped out of the door, "Peter?"

He turned around slowly, "Yes?"

"Why do you keep calling me Cam?"

"Do you not like it?"

"Well, I-" Camille blushed crimson, "I don't mind it. But why do you keep calling me that?"

"Because," he said, no longer smiling at her, "I like you."

Then, when she didn't say anything in reply but merely stared at him in surprise, he turned on his heel and disappeared around the corner. Slowly, Camille re-entered her room and shut the door behind her. When she did, Susan opened the bathroom door just a crack and whispered, "Is he gone?"

"Yeah," Camille said strangely.

Then Susan opened the door and came striding back into the room, a relieved smile on her face, "Good. I should probably go before he goes looking for me. But before I do, you never answered my question."

Remembering that she hadn't given Susan an answer before Peter had knocked on the door; Camille looked at Susan with wide eyes. "I'll have to think about it," she said quietly.

**A/N: I have to admit that I really enjoyed writing Susan in this chapter haha. Also a certain someone said in a review that Peter should give her a nickname, Idk if Cam is cute or not, but it seems kind of natural to me :) Anyway, keep reviewing please, I want to know what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

Camille slept through breakfast the next morning, and Mae had to hurry her through the motions. The problem was that she had had a hard time falling asleep the night before. She kept mulling over Peter's words from earlier in the day, trying to decipher their meaning. _I like you_. It seemed simple enough, Peter had just meant that he liked her, but at the same time it was a little confusing. For one thing, Camille didn't really know him that well. For another, Camille liked Peter, but that didn't necessarily mean that she wanted him to like her back. After all, she wouldn't see him again once she went home, would she?

When Mae finished braiding Camille's hair, she started to rise from the chair in a hurry. However, Mae gently pushed her back down into the chair and said, "One more thing," before opening a small box that Camille hadn't noticed sitting on the vanity. When Mae pulled out a gold chain with a silver locket hanging on it, Camille's brows rose in surprise.

"What's that?"

As Mae gently placed the chain around her neck she answered, "A locket and a gift for you."

"From who?"

Mae smiled as she replied, "They asked me not to tell you. Now we need to hurry if we want to say good-bye."

The sky was clear when Camille and Mae joined Susan, Gareth and the several others that were seeing Peter and his small party off. Peter's party consisted of Bane, the centaur Peter had been talking to the day before when Camille had interrupted them, as well five others. There was a Dog, two Fauns, another Centaur, and a Horse. Camille didn't bother to remember their names, seeing as she was distracted by her stomach.

She and Mae had only just joined Susan and Gareth as Peter was saying good-bye to his sister. The others couldn't hear what he said to her, nor could they hear him thank Gareth for staying behind to keep an eye on them. Camille was a little surprised when he turned to her and said, "Good morning, Cam."

"Erm, good morning," Camille replied, her face blushing lightly.

Then he stepped closer to her, like he had done to both his sister and Gareth when he had been talking to them privately, "In case you get bored while I'm gone, there is a library on the third floor. I'm sure Mae would be happy to show it to you."

Camille stared at him for a long moment, her mouth hanging open in surprise, "How did you know I like to read?"

"I didn't," he grinned, "Anyway, I'll see you when I return." Then his face turned quite serious, "And please, Cam, don't go with my sister if she follows me."

"I wasn't planning to," Camille said quietly, the blush spreading to her ears.

"Good," he smiled at her again. Then he stepped away from her, but as he was about to mount Blink, the Horse, he hesitated. Looking over his shoulder, Peter's eyes met Camille's. Before she could react, he strode toward her again. Feeling everyone's eyes on her, Camille's face turned crimson as Peter gingerly put a hand to the side of her face, "I know that I don't know you that well, but I meant what I said yesterday. I really do fancy you."

Camille opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find her voice. Peter merely smiled before leaning in to kiss her cheek, leaving the side of her face burning when he pulled away. Then, without any further delay, he mounted Blink and gave his last good-bye before they left. Camille's face was still burning even as they went well out of ear-shot.

Feeling the eyes of everyone on her again, Camille looked to Gareth and then to Susan. Gareth seemed to be surprised, whereas Susan was looking at her with raised eyebrows and a small smile. Then Susan seemed to laugh and said, "Come on, _Cam_, you should probably eat something before you pass out."

Camille wanted nothing more than just to disappear completely, or possibly melt into the ground, but she followed Susan anyway. She kept her eyes on the ground in front of her as she walked; avoiding Gareth's questioning eyes as he walked beside her back to the castle. Despite how hungry she had been before, Camille now felt as though her stomach had disappeared altogether. However, whenever she had a plate full of toast and eggs pushed in front of her she ate as though she were starving.

"Whoa," Susan laughed, "Slow down, Cam, your food isn't going anywhere."

Camille met Susan's eyes and she stopped eating just long enough to say, "Please don't call me that."

Susan seemed to frown, but she replied, "Okay."

Then Camille pushed her plate away and reached for the locket that was still hanging around her neck, "Susan, do you know anything about this locket?"

Curiously, Susan studied it for a long time before smiling, "Did Peter give it to you?"

"I-I," Camille stuttered for a moment, "I don't know, that's why I was asking you about it."

Shrugging, Susan replied, "I haven't seen it before, but after this morning I think it probably is a gift from my brother. He must really like you. Have you tried opening it?"

Her face having flushed with color again, Camille merely shook her head. Susan watched then as Camille used her fingernails to open the locket. She was a little surprised to see a very small roll of paper fall out of it and onto the table. Carefully, she unrolled it and read, "_I meant what I said, Cam_."

"So?" Susan asked, seeming to know what Camille was going to say before she said it.

Clearing her throat, Camille said, "It's definitely from your brother."

"Oh," Susan seemed to look rather amused, "He definitely fancies you, then. I don't doubt it for a minute now." When Camille didn't say anything, but merely frowned, Susan gave her a confused look, "What's wrong? Do you not fancy him?"

"I don't know," Camille said quietly, removing the locket and dropping it on the table. Then she quickly rose to her feet and left the room, finding Mae just outside the door. She was about to just pass her when she remembered what Peter had said about the library, so she skidded to a stop in front of her, "Can you show me where the library is?"

Mae blinked in surprise and then nodded, "Follow me."

* * *

><p>The library was <em>huge<em>. Camille's jaw dropped from the copious amount of books in the room around her. She had no idea of where to start, but she was so happy to be around so many books that she didn't really care where she started. Mae seemed to be pleased with Camille's reaction to the room, and even more so when Camille turned to her and said, "Thank you."

Mae didn't think it exactly right to say "You're welcome," considering she had only led her there, but she nodded anyway before leaving the room. Camille noticed that there were a few other Fauns and Dryads in the library as well, a few of them were reading while the rest were merely putting away books or dusting off shelves. Slowly, she crossed the room and started to browse.

However, when her eyes glanced over a book that had the word _Ettinsmoor_ in the title she froze to stare at it. At first all that she could think about was Peter and that he was going to Ettinsmoor to find his missing siblings. Then her thoughts turned to every interaction she had had with him in the last few days, starting with when she fell in the water and he had carried her back up to Cair Paravel and ending with him giving her the locket she had left on the table. She seemed to stare at the book for a good half hour, trying to decide what to make of it all; trying to decide if she wanted to read the book or not; trying to decide if she wanted to follow Susan when she left later that night.

Eventually, Camille took the book off the shelf and began to flip through its pages. It was handwritten and hard to make out in places, but nevertheless informative. The book started by describing the mountainous terrain and the uncivilized giants that lived in the south of the country, if it could really be called a country. The more she read, the more Camille began to worry about Peter and his siblings. But it wasn't until she flipped to a page with a detailed illustration of a dragon that Camille's breath became shallow. It was described as being eighty feet long from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail and being capable of taking down giants if they strayed off alone.

Camille jumped when a Faun dropped an armful of books to the ground somewhere behind her and snapped the book shut. Catching her breath, Camille looked around and realized that none of them were paying her any attention. Without so much as asking if she could take the book with her, Camille pulled it close to her midsection before striding out of the library and to her room.

**A/N: so yeah, things are definitely picking up now. Uhm, yes Finis is still going to be important later! I couldn't forget about the magical dark-magic-suppressing flute that only Camille can play hah. However, this mysterious book on Ettinsmoor is going to be useful... I think it goes without saying that Camille will go with Susan. That's not really a mystery haha :) and the locket bit was just something that came to mind. Right now Peter's just trying to win Camille over so he's being particularly nice. Oh and this dragon bit is interesting ;). I'd be lying if I said that the fact that I'm currently reading **_**The Hobbit**_** by Tolkein didn't inspire that a little. Anyway I'm done with my long author's note. Thanks to those who have read this far and please leave me reviews to read, they really make my day!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: So it's been a little while... It actually took me a while to figure out exactly how this chapter should play out, so that's my explanation haha. Anyway, there is a bit of excitement in this chapter :D So, without further ado, here is chapter twelve and let me know what you think with a review. ;)**

Camille had spent most of the day reading the book she had found or inspecting the locket Peter had given to her. By the time she had gone back up to her room after dinner, she was thoroughly frustrated. Susan had yet to ask Camille if she wanted to accompany her that night, and Camille was beginning to wonder if the young queen had decided to just leave without her. When Camille wondered if that was the case it upset her, and she found herself debating over whether or not to just go and tell Susan that she wanted to accompany her.

Yet, at the same time, she still couldn't decide if she even wanted to go in the first place. For one thing, the more that she read about Ettinsmoor and the dangers it held the less eager she was to go. However, she felt like maybe she was supposed to go. It was entirely possible that Aslan intended for her to go, though that was what confused her the most. It did seem as though going to Ettinsmoor was what she needed to do before she could go home, but Camille didn't see how she would be of any help. After all, wasn't her purpose to play that magic-suppressing flute? If that was so, it didn't seem as though it would be of any help against giants or dragons or anything else that lived in the wild of the north.

There was, of course, the possibility of there being a witch in Ettinsmoor. The fact did remain that nobody knew who or what had taken Edmund and Lucy north, nor did anyone know the reason why. But, after quite a bit of conversing with Gareth and Mae, as well as some of the other Narnians, Camille had learned that the last witch had been defeated three years ago. Additionally, there had been no strange sightings or occurrences that would hint at a witch living in or around Narnia. To the Narnians, it just didn't seem very plausible.

Nevertheless, Camille still felt that Aslan would want her to go with Susan. So, as she lay on her bed, holding the locket up over her face to admire it, Camille made her decision. She waited there, thinking that Susan would come and find her eventually. Then, as the sun was setting, there was a light knock on her door.

"Come in," Camille called, pushing herself into a sitting position. She clutched the locket tightly as Susan entered.

When Susan turned back around from shutting the door, she offered Camille a smile, "So, have you made up your mind?"

Camille merely nodded in reply.

Susan's smile seemed to brighten, "So are you coming with me, then?"

Again, Camille nodded, too anxious to say anything.

"All right, then!" Susan was beaming, "I'll be back soon. But, until then, please wait here."

With that, Susan turned and left the room. Camille breathed a sigh of relief and unclenched her hand, looking down to see the locket still there. She found herself wondering when she would see Peter again as she looked at it. The funny thing was that, when she agreed to go with Susan, she suddenly felt much less afraid of how he made her feel. In fact, she found herself wishing he was still in the Cair with her. Then, of course, she wondered if he would be upset when he learned that she was traveling with Susan. He had asked her not to go even if his sister did, and she had agreed not to. Now she would be going against that promise.

With a heavy sigh, Camille laid back down on the bed. Now all there she had to do was wait for Susan to come back. Closing her eyes, she started to form the image of Peter's face with her mind's eye. When she could see him looking at her through his blue eyes, Camille opened her own to look up at the ceiling. The more she thought about him the more anxious she felt. She didn't like that she was breaking her promise, even if it was possible that Aslan wanted her to. Camille wasn't used to trusting other people anymore, and she felt like she had Peter's trust but that now she could lose it.

It seemed like hours passed before there was another knock on her door; it had been dark for some time, at least. Once again, Camille called, "Come in!"

It was Susan, and the faun Mr. Tumnus was with her. He dropped something on Camille's bed beside her, and when she sat up to look at it she realized that it was new clothing for her. "You should probably hurry," Susan said before turning to Mr. Tumnus and thanking him for his help.

Camille considered changing her mind for a moment, but ultimately gathered the bundle in her arms and hurried to the bathroom. She was surprised that the entire outfit was black, and was even more surprised to find that she would be wearing pants. Quickly, she slipped on the shirt, pants, belt, and boots. There was a jacket, too, but Camille thought it would be too warm for that. So she stepped out of the bathroom with it in her arms.

Susan smiled at the sight of her, but Camille frowned, "Don't get me wrong, I like the pants, but why am I in all black?"

"Well, since we will be traveling at night – at least to start with – it will make it easier for you to disappear if you need to."

"But won't I be hot during the day?"

"Did you think we'd be going with only one change of clothes?" Susan laughed lightly before adding, "Now come on, we've got to get moving."

With that, Susan led the way out of the room and down the stairs of the castle. There was one time when Camille was sure they would be caught, seeing as they had to pass a room Gareth was sitting in. Apparently he was staying up in case Susan did try to leave. Surely enough, the two of them managed to slip outside and met Mr. Tumnus as they walked over to the stables. Two Horses that were loaded down with supplies were waiting just outside the doors and were speaking quietly to one another as they approached.

Susan introduced Camille to the Horses. Their names were Dalton and Piper. Dalton was the larger and darker of the two; Camille guessed that he was either dark brown or black whereas Piper seemed to be golden in color. It was hard to tell for sure in the light of the half moon. It was when Susan pulled her bow and arrows over her shoulder and across her back that Camille suddenly remembered Finis.

"I just remembered that I forgot something," Camille said, starting to turn to go back to the castle. Before Susan could stop her or ask what it was, Camille called over her shoulder, "I'll be right back, I promise!"

As she ran back to Cair Paravel, Camille was suddenly very glad she wasn't wearing a dress like Susan was. She was much less clumsy without the hem of a dress to trip over. Soon enough she was slipping back into the castle and was approaching the room that Gareth had been in earlier. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears as she peered around the corner and into the room, but found that Gareth was no longer there. For a moment, she was relieved, but then it occurred to her that she would have to be very cautious until she found him again.

Slowly, Camille crept to the room where Finis was, straining her eyes and ears as she went. Once she nearly ran into Mae, but managed to slip in a doorway while she waited for the dryad to pass. She wondered if Susan and the Horses would wait for her, but at the time she was more worried about running into Gareth. When Camille finally reached the room and carefully shut the door behind her she breathed a sigh of relief. However, as she approached the pedestal she wondered how she would conceal the flute.

After a moment of looking around the room, Camille's eyes rested on a small table against the wall. There, sitting on top of it, was something made of a dark cloth. She crossed the room quickly and found that it was some kind of a long bag with a strap. Then she hurried back over to the flute and picked it up to slip it inside, but froze when she touched it. As soon as she lifted it into the air it seemed to hum with energy, and it startled her. She thought that maybe she was imagining things, though, and quickly slipped it into the bag.

Throwing the flute over her shoulder, Camille turned and quickly left the room. As she stalked back down the hall she jumped at the sound of a door swinging shut, realizing that she hadn't eased the door shut behind herself. Her heart positively racing, she started to run through Cair Paravel, passing Mae at one point. The dryad was startled to see her run past and immediately called after her, but Camille didn't stop. Then, as she was about to cross the entrance hall she halted at the sight of Gareth at the other end.

He seemed to be shocked by the sight of her, "Camille?"

Camille couldn't think of anything to say that would persuade him to let her leave. With her adrenaline still pumping through her veins, Camille ran for the door and reached it just as Gareth started to chase after her. Her legs carried her towards the stables once again, and it seemed as though Susan had heard them coming because she had mounted Dalton and was leading Piper toward Camille.

Camille had only ever been on a horse once in her life, but she remembered how to mount one and quickly hoisted herself up and swung her leg over Piper's back. Then, just as Camille had steadied herself, Susan began to lead them away from Cair Paravel at a run. For a few seconds Camille was afraid she would fall off, but at a run the ride was quite smooth, so holding on wasn't too difficult. The problem was that she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to hold on.

It felt like they had been running for hours by the time the Horses slowed to a walk, and Camille's fingers hurt from holding on too tightly. Nobody said anything for about a minute, and it was then that Camille heard the sound of running water not too far off. Just as she was about to ask about it, Piper spoke up from underneath her, "Could we possibly stop for a drink, Queen Susan?"

Camille hadn't looked much at her surroundings while they were running, so now her eyes were darting all around. She could see somewhat in the moonlight, though she assumed the Horses must have had better eyesight in order to run in the dark like they had been. Mostly, they were surrounded by grassy plains, but there was the occasional cluster of trees. Susan, who was off to Camille's right, answered Piper, "I think that would be a good idea. If you two would stop so Camille and I could dismount first, I'd appreciate it."

Then the Horses stopped, and the two of them carefully slipped off. Once her feet touched the ground Camille thought she might fall over because her legs were that stiff. Slowly, she started to stretch her legs and arms. When she stopped, she realized that Susan was standing just a few feet away, looking off into the dark around them. Without taking her eyes off of whatever it was she was looking at, Susan quietly asked, "What did you need to get before we left? It seemed like it was pretty important," then she looked at Camille, "Was it the locket?"

Camille hadn't thought much of the locket, but then she reached up and pulled it out from under her shirt. She was relieved that she hadn't forgotten it. "No, it wasn't the locket," Camille admitted, pulling the strap over her head as she did. Then she carefully pulled the bronze flute out of the slender bag so Susan could see, feeling it hum lightly in her fingers.

At first, Susan was surprised, but then she seemed to put the pieces together on her own. Once the look of surprise left her face, she said, "Well, I'm glad it was something that could be of use later. However, even if you can play it, it won't protect you in a fight. So, I was thinking I would teach you how to shoot, and I suppose Gareth can teach you how to use a sword once he catches up to us."

Camille's brows came together in confusion, "We're going to let him catch up to us? But I thought we were just running from him."

Susan laughed, "Initially, yes, we were running from him. But we were also running to catch up with Peter. No, we won't be joining Peter; it would be too soon for that. We are, however, not going to let him get too far ahead. On the other hand, Gareth will catch up to us soon enough, but when he does it won't matter that he wasn't supposed to let us leave. At that point it will be his duty to protect us, so he will just have to follow."

Camille couldn't think of anything to say to that, but the Horses returned then anyway. Susan said they should continue on foot for a little while longer, so they did. It wasn't a very long walk, and when they reached a cluster of trees they stopped for the night. Once the Horses were barebacked again they found a soft place to lie just outside the circle of trees. Then Susan and Camille found their own places within the trees. Camille didn't think she would be able to sleep on the ground, but after all of the excitement she had gone through that night it didn't take her long to drift off.


	13. Chapter 13

Camille woke to see the leaf-adorned branches overhead and was confused. It took her a few moments to remember what had happened the night before, and she rolled over to see that Susan was gone. A wave of panic surged through her as she sprang to her feet, but then she breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she saw Susan outside the circle of trees with her bow in her hands.

"Sleep well?" Susan asked cheerfully.

Camille noticed that the Horses were gone. Wondering where they were, she replied, "Well enough."

"The Horses will be back soon and then we'll continue on," she said as Camille stepped over to her.

"Shouldn't we have breakfast first?"

Shrugging, Susan replied, "In a few hours, yes. I'd like to cover more ground first, though."

Before Camille could ask why, she heard the Horses returning from the river that was somewhere behind them. It occurred to her that they must have been taking another drink before they started off for the day. Dalton and Piper came up beside Susan and Camille before they stopped. Their saddles had already been put back on by Susan, and they seemed to be eager to set off again.

Susan quickly pulled herself up and into Dalton's saddle and Camille slowly did the same, noticing that her muscles still ached somewhat from last night's ride. She held back a groan when she realized how sore she would be by the end of the day.

"Ready?" Susan asked when Camille looked at her questioningly.

Inhaling deeply, she nodded. Without another word, Susan urged Dalton into a jog that escalated into a gallop within a few minutes. Camille just focused on hanging on with her legs as Piper bolted to catch up. For a while, her stomach churned uncomfortably as they rode through the mostly bare landscape. When it calmed down, Camille took notice to the ground in front of her and eventually to the rest of her surroundings.

To her right, Camille saw the edge of a dense forest. It looked like it would be difficult for the Horses to travel through due to the many low-hanging branches and the dense grass and shrubbery that grew on the forest floor. She was surprised that anything could grow in the darkness, and it gave her chills just to look at it. To the left, she saw low hills covered in green grass that rolled in the wind. Past the hills she saw mountains reaching to the sky with their peaks, but not seeming to be able to touch it. In front of her, she saw only more hills but also a level plain beyond them.

After a few hours of riding they spotted a small pond of water and let the Horses drink again. Susan pulled out a loaf of bread and some cheese, which Camille greedily ate in a few minutes. When there was none left, Susan got back onto her feet and started to walk along the ground, her eyes searching it for something. Just as Camille was about to ask what she was doing, Susan knelt down and picked up a packed clump of dirt in her hands.

"What is that?" Camille asked just as Susan was dropping it.

"When Horses break into a jog, they begin to tear the ground up a bit," she explained. "Thus, we have a trail to follow this way."

"So we're tracking them, then?"

Laughing, Susan said, "Of course! Did you think we would just head north and hope we'd find them along the way?"

"Well, no. I guess not."

For a few minutes they fell silent. As the Horses grazed, Susan spoke yet again, "For the next day or two we're going to be making an effort to stay right on my brother's heels. With some luck, Gareth will be able to keep up, but won't catch up to us before we reach the marshes. Once we're past the marsh, however, we'll be in the southern edge of Ettinsmoor and then it will be a good idea to wait for him to join us, actually."

Camille remained silent for a little while to absorb what Susan had just said. Then she said, "And then?"

"Then we try to catch up to Peter and hope we don't catch the attention of any giants in the process."

"Or that he's caught the attention of any giants before we reach him," Camille added quietly.

Nodding, Susan said, "That too. Now I think we should get going again. I'd like to be only a few hours behind them when we reach the marshes, and right now I would guess they have a half-day on us."

With that, they once again mounted the Horses and started off again to the north. Susan led the way with Dalton as she had before, but this time she would slow the Horses every once in a while to make certain they didn't stray from the trail. This went on for several hours, and Camille was beginning to wonder when they would stop again as the sun continued to move further west. Eventually, as the sun was starting to set, they came to a stop at the base of a hill to rest for the night.

The next day they went through the same routine as the day before, only stopping briefly to eat, drink, or make certain they were still following Peter. But, several hours before sunset, they came to the southern edge of the marshes, where Susan stopped them and dismounted Dalton.

After Camille dismounted Piper, she came up beside Susan, who was staring across the marsh intently. "What's wrong?"

Susan, who was frowning, said, "I'm afraid we're too close to Peter's party to keep moving for today."

"What makes you say that?"

Looking to Camille, Susan said, "The fact that I can see them in the distance, if we move any closer we'll be spotted."

"Should we move back?"

"No, I don't think so. It looks to me like they're still moving, so I think it would be best for us to stay here."

-

So sorry it's been forever… I've had this chapter saved to my computer for about a month and just did some final edits… ANYWAY, I WILL be writing more VERY SOON! Thank you all for your patience and Happy Holidays!


	14. Chapter 14

The next day was spent crossing the marshes on foot. Susan had insisted that they went on foot for two reasons. First, it would give Dalton and Piper a chance to recuperate from running most of the day before. And second, she was certain that they would have no trouble keeping up with Peter and his party. Near the end of the day, Camille was relieved to find that she could see the end of the marshes as a line of trees up ahead.

Stopping shortly after the trees came into view, Susan spoke to Camille, "I guess we can stop here for the night. After all, I don't mean to join Peter any time soon."

"So we are going to join Peter?" Camille asked, a little confused, "When exactly are we going to do that?"

Taking out her bow and arrows and slinging them over her shoulder, Susan replied, "I was thinking we would once we had passed the giants in the southern lands of Ettinsmoor. Chances are he and I will have an argument when we meet, and I suspect that our shouting would be more than enough to draw the attention of a giant." Taking an arrow and fitting it to her bow, she asked, "Now, would you like to learn how to shoot?"

"Why? I don't have my own bow and arrows, unless you intend on giving yours to me for some absurd reason."

Susan smirked, "You never know what could happen, and it's better to be safe than sorry."

For a moment, Camille didn't know what to say. Then, she grinned at her sarcastically, "If you say so, _mum_."

Then, with a slight shake of her head, Susan proceeded to demonstrate how to nock an arrow properly. Susan's instruction continued until it was too dark to see anything well enough to aim at. Although, Camille was beginning to wonder if she would have a better chance of hitting something in the dark by the time they finished for the night.

By the time they reached the trees the next day, Camille and Susan stopped to allow Dalton and Piper to graze on the fresh grass. However, the Horses hurried back to where they sat among the trees, their eyes wide, only a minute later. With remarkable speed, both Camille and Susan rose to their feet. It was Dalton that explained, "We spotted a faun approaching from the south; if we wait too much longer he will be upon us."

Without a word, Susan strode over to Dalton's side and pulled herself up into the saddle. "Stay here," Susan said, looking from Piper to Camille. Then Dalton swiftly carried Susan out of sight.

In their absence, Camille took her place with her back against the tree again. Piper, on the other hand, simply stood in the same spot, her head turned so that Camille could only see one of her large eyes. Of course, Camille knew the faun was Gareth. Susan had said that he would follow them, after all, and Camille could only assume it was true. She wondered what Susan would do – if she would go and greet Gareth or if she would come back and insist they keep moving.

Whatever she did, Camille hoped that she would hurry. It wasn't particularly exciting – standing around with Piper, playing with the end of her long braid, searching their surroundings for signs of anything out of the ordinary, being frightened with every unusual sound the animals made in the trees – and it gave her the opportunity to let her thoughts wander. For the last few days, Camille had been in constant company and had found herself talking or helping Susan in tracking and keeping an eye over her shoulder when she could spare one, but now she was alone with a Horse that wasn't speaking to her. And, of course, being alone with little to do other than wait and listen gave her time to be alone with her thoughts.

It surprised her how quickly her thoughts turned to Peter and his search party. Not that Camille hadn't been thinking about him when she was busy, it was just easier to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. Now she couldn't seem to direct her thoughts away from him.

First and foremost, Camille wondered if he was okay. Then she found herself wondering where he was, if he was still in this ominous stretch of forest or if he was already passing through the territory of the giants. The thought made her shudder involuntarily against the tree, pushing her away from it, and she tried to busy herself by pulling the flute out of its cloth case.

Unfortunately, not even the feel of it humming in her hands distracted her from the feeling in her stomach. Closing her eyes, Camille concentrated on the cool metal between her fingers and wondered what would happen when she finally decided to use it, and why it felt almost _alive_ in her grip. Slowly, the shift of her focus settled her stomach and put her at ease.

The sound of Dalton's hooves beating the ground brought Camille out of her reverie and – with her eyes opened again – she quickly slipped Finis back into the slender case before throwing it over her shoulder. Maybe a moment later, Susan and Dalton appeared with Gareth not far behind them.

As they came closer, Susan sliding off Dalton's back in the process, Camille considered smiling at Gareth in greeting. However, the most she could manage was a very awkward grimace. Gareth either didn't notice or pretended he didn't as he greeted her.

"If I'm banished for letting you go, Camille, I will never forgive you." He said as he came to a stop in front of her.

Embarrassed, Camille shifted her eyes to her toes and quickly muttered, "I'm sorry."

To her surprise, the faun laughed briefly. And she looked up from the ground to see him smiling at her.

"I was only joking," he said, the smile still on his face, "Cheer up – we'll be looking upon giants soon enough."

Looking from Gareth to Susan, who was busy attending to the Horses, Camille gulped at the thought of facing giants. "How soon, exactly?"

"Well," Gareth started thoughtfully, "Did you see that gorge over there?" He asked this while pointing off to the left.

Camille had seen the gorge earlier. In fact, she had been staring at it earlier while Susan was gone. She nodded in reply, hoping Gareth wouldn't say what he was about to say.

"Well, the giants live along the side of it, so we'll be seeing them within the hour…"

Turning her gaze away from Gareth, Camille looked over her shoulder at the gorge. She could make it out rather well from between the trees, and now she understood that she would not be traveling through the forest. Instead, they would be traveling through the giants' home with very little camouflage to hide in. The thought made her stomach turn cold and, for a moment, Camille considered abandoning this quest and returning to the safety of Cair Paravel. However, as she stood there staring at the gorge, she remembered Peter and realized that he was already in the presence of the giants.

Then she realized how much she longed to see him again, and knew that she couldn't just turn around and wait safely in Cair Paravel when he could be in danger.

And, with that thought, she made her decision.

"We can still turn back," Gareth said quietly, so that only Camille could hear, "If that's what you want."

Shaking her head, Camille faced him again, "No, the only thing worse than going forward would be going back."

**Author's Note**: Well, it has certainly been a while, hasn't it? I am sorry about the delay, as always. Anyway, please review… Or maybe I'll stop updating altogether… mwahahahaha… Just kidding, a little bit. But, seriously, please review haha. I will try to respond to reviews in a more timely fashion from now on, just saying :)


	15. Chapter 15

It did not take long for their small party to encounter their first giant, and, if it weren't for Gareth and Susan's reassurances, Camille would have run in the opposite direction at the sight of them. At first, she had not even realized they were walking among the giants – they seemed to blend into the gargantuan rock along the gorge almost perfectly – and it was only when one of them had finally stirred that she had noticed their presence.

"Don't run," Susan warned, looking around Gareth at Camille. "They'll _definitely_ notice you if you run."

All that Camille could do was nod in reply, her eyes fixed upon the massive giant that had stood up from where it had been sitting, and try to steady her shallow breathing. Piper, who was walking on Camille's left, noticed her nervousness and tried to console her by nudging her arm gently with her muzzle. The touch startled Camille initially, but when she realized what Piper was trying to do she placed her hand on Piper's side and mouthed her thanks.

And so, slowly, the five of them continued along the side of the gorge in that manner. For the most part they kept all conversation to a minimum as they walked, their hope that the giants would continue to ignore their presence, and their caution paid off. However, night began to fall before they could see the end of the gorge and whatever it was that laid beyond it. So, with some reluctance, they made camp in a cave that barely accommodated the five of them, but Camille was somewhat thankful for being so close to the others, seeing as it grew somewhat cold during the night.

The next day went on in a similar manner as the last half of the day before, with the exception of them reaching the end of the gorge and having to resume tracking once again to determine which direction Peter's party had gone. It took Susan over an hour to find a headway, during which time Gareth handed Camille his short-sword, which she took with some reluctance.

"There is no way I could cut down a giant with this sword," she stated doubtfully, gripping its hilt with her right hand.

With a short laugh, Gareth retorted, "And what sword, pray tell, could you cut a giant down with?"

Face flushing; Camille gaped at the Faun, "Uhhh… You make a good point."

Then, with a humorless smile, Gareth began to instruct her in the basics of swordsmanship. When Susan did finally return she merely shook her head at Camille's frustration and informed them that they would continue on horseback. Camille made an obvious sound of relief at the news, due to the fact that she had been walking on blisters that had formed the day before, and received another shake of the head from Susan, who found it amusing.

They continued on then in a similar fashion as when they had first left Cair Paravel behind, driving forward as fast as possible and only stopping to eat, sleep, or make certain they were on the correct trail. But, now that they were beginning to climb higher in altitude as the land around them became more mountainous, they moved more slowly than before as Gareth and the Horses grew tired more quickly.

When they would stop before nightfall both Susan and Gareth would continue to instruct Camille. Susan's instruction of the bow and arrow seemed to be improving, albeit slowly, but Camille felt as if she was making no headway when Gareth would try to instruct her with his short-sword. Finally, on one night in particular, Camille gave into the pain of her tired muscles and let her emotions get the better of her.

She had just started to go through a rather short series of forms when Gareth had stopped her, insisting that she was holding her arms incorrectly. But, before he could finish telling her what to do differently, Camille had thrown the sword to the ground in front of her and shouted in frustration. When her outburst had ended, Gareth did not appear to be fazed. But, before he could say anything else to her, Susan spoke from where she was preparing their dinner.

"You know," she started loudly so they could hear, rummaging through one of the packs that she would strap to Dalton during the day, "I _did_ bring a longsword." Then, with a noise of triumph, Susan found what she was looking for and pulled a sword within its sheath from the pack.

"You waited until _now_ to reveal the fact that you brought a sword?" Camille said, sounding more tired than anything. "Are you kidding me?"

Her brows creasing and coming together, Susan replied shortly, "No, I am not kidding." When she pulled the sword from its sheath, Camille took to the longer blade instantly, but Susan did not seem to notice the change in her expression as she continued to explain, "I waited until now because I did not think you had a problem with Gareth's sword. But, after listening to your shouts of frustration, I learned that I was wrong."

Camille suppressed an urge to roll her eyes at Susan, her mood foul due to her exhaustion, and said, "But _still_, I could have sparred with Gareth if you had revealed the sword sooner. Now I realize that we've merely wasted time because you didn't think it necessary to reveal your hidden sword."

Then Gareth interjected, "Actually, I would have elected not to spar with you until now anyway, Camille."

Camille stared at him in disbelief. Before she could speak, though, Susan spoke again. "Only when Gareth felt you were ready for sparring would I have revealed my _brother's_ sword."

Camille was surprised to hear that Susan had Peter's sword, which seemed strange when he was on a mission. However, it was entirely possible he had more than one sword. Instead of asking about it, she asked another question first. "But why have me learn with one sword and then have me spar with another?"

"I was going to lend Edmund's sword to Gareth," Susan answered simply, still holding the sword in question in her hand.

Taken aback, Camille's anger subsided almost instantly. Besides the fact that Susan's case was reasonable, she suddenly felt a pang of sympathy. Susan must have brought her brother's sword with the knowledge that he was unarmed wherever he was. It occurred to her then that, coupled with the fact that he and Lucy had been missing for several weeks, this greatly slimmed their chances of finding the two of them alive.

"Okay, that makes sense," Camille said after a minute, "And I'm sorry I reacted the way I did."

Susan slid the sword back into its sheath and said, "It's okay. To feel is to be alive. Anyway, dinner is ready if the two of you are still interested."

Without another word, Camille made her way over to where Susan had been sitting, being careful as she moved her sore muscles.

Camille slept well that night, due to her physical exertion during Gareth's instruction, but she still woke at dawn. Groaning, she opened her eyes to see the sky above her turning light orange, and she pushed herself to her elbows when she noticed what had woken her.

Finis, which was lying beside her as she slept between Gareth and Susan on the ground, was pulsing with nearly violent vibrations of energy. She stared at it for a while when its humming returned to normal and counted the seconds, only reaching eight when it pulsed again, seeming to be pushing itself closer to her. Jumping at the sudden movement, Camille pushed the flute away and stared at it before a large, dark shadow passed over them.

Their camp was located halfway up a small mountain, which was part of a mountain range that extended for miles, and they were not too far from a sheer cliff. Thus, when she turned to look for the source of the shadow she was looking over in the direction of the cliff, the valley below, and the expanse of empty air between them and the closest mountain across the valley. With a gasp, Camille spotted the shadow's source as something large soaring through the air, its hide sparkling as though it were encrusted with a thousand – or maybe a million – blood-red rubies.

Camille realized what it was with one word of thought, _Dragon_. Then, before she could consider what to do, she jumped at the sudden vibration Finis made against her back. She had not realized it had made its way back to her on its own, and she whipped around to pick it up, still clothed in its black case.

Without necessarily considering what she was thinking, Camille shakily removed Finis from its case only to feel it hum with more energy than usual in her hands. At the sound of a voice behind her, Camille jumped to confront the source of the noise.

"Camille?" It was Gareth, whom was looking at her with wide eyes, "What are you doing?"

"There's a _dragon!_" Camille said in something between a whisper and a yell.

Looking past her for a moment, Gareth nodded, "So there is, but it would be best if we did not move until it moved on."

Camille stared at him for a moment, not moving even as she heard the distant roar of the dragon behind her. Then she glanced down at herself, remembering that she had slept in her entirely black outfit that she had first left Cair Paravel in.

Gareth seemed to see the gears turning in her head. "Camille-"

Slowly getting to her bare feet, Camille looked at him once again and pressed a finger to her lips. Then, with Finis in one hand, she took off in the direction the dragon was heading; still not bothering to challenge what she was thinking. She heard Gareth shout after her, but somehow she knew he was not following her as she continued up the slight incline at a run.

The flute continued to hum in her hand, seeming to be turning her fingertips numb as she went. Besides the sound of the cold morning air rushing past her ears, Camille was only aware of the dragon roaring, closer now than before. The chill going straight through her clothing to her skin seemed to bring her thoughts back into clarity, and she couldn't understand why she was running toward the dragon. All she knew was that she felt a pull in that direction and that Finis' humming became more intense as she ran.

The irony was amusing to her, though. The fact that she was running toward the dragon when it was the one thing, besides the giants of course, that she had feared when she decided to go with Susan was beyond strange. It was not so much that she was running toward it that was so strange, but rather the fact that she felt it was the right thing to do and that she found herself unafraid.

Suddenly, Finis' humming subsided, and Camille slowed to a stop behind a cluster of trees. Pressing herself against one, she caught her breath and slowly peered around its side at the monster that had landed a hundred feet away.

It was hard to tell from a distance, but Camille thought this must have been a different dragon than the one she had read about. While the one described in the book was eighty feet in length, Camille thought that this red dragon was maybe closer to forty feet. Either way, the dragon was still large enough to crush her or any other human, and it was capable of breathing fire, as she saw when it spouted a jet of flame upon the grass and the nearby trees carelessly, as though it did not care if it burned down a forest.

With a triumphant roar that shook the leaves of the trees Camille hid behind, the dragon landed in the grass it had lit on fire and began to thrash around as if it were trying to scratch an itch on its back. For a seemingly long while, Camille watched as the dragon rolled in the burning grass, wondering what to do. When, finally, the dragon stopped moving and appeared to fall asleep, Camille noticed Finis starting to throb in her grip as it had before, pulsing at regular intervals.

Many long minutes passed in this way, with Camille staring on at the dragon as it slept with the flute humming in her hand. The violent pulsing had begun at a slow pace with long intervals between, but as the minutes passed its pulse began to quicken. Until, finally, when it pulsed violently every six or seven seconds, Camille began to step out from behind the trees, only to be stopped in her tracks by the sight of someone garbed in armor making their way out of the untouched trees off to her left.

Whoever it was seemed to be moving quickly and silently, seeing as the dragon continued to sleep undisturbed as they approached. She watched in silent horror, a terrible feeling gripping her stomach, as she realized who it was growing closer to the dragon. Then, deepening her feeling of dread, she watched as the end of the dragon's long tail twitched once.

With both Finis and her heart pounding fiercely, Camille ran into the open expanse of grass, not thinking through what she was doing. "Stop!" she shouted as she ran, "_STOP!_"

In the instant after her voice rang out, the dragon's eyes snapped open, and it took notice to Peter first. As it uncurled its large body to attack, Camille again shouted, hoping to gain its attention.

To her surprise, and horror, it worked. At the sound of her shouting, the dragon turned and redirected its attention to her. In the cold fear that had suddenly coursed its way through her veins, Camille froze and stared at the dragon as it unfolded its wings and jumped into the air. It glided toward her, only a few feet above the ground, and only landed when its massive body was close enough for her to reach out and touch.

Her heart pounding, Camille watched motionlessly as it lowered its massive head until it was looking her directly in the eye. Then, the dragon's large red eyes moving downward, it seemed to shift its gaze to her hand that gripped Finis. After a long moment of studying her, the dragon opened its mouth slowly, and Camille knew this would be the end for her. It would open its jaws and incinerate her where she stood, burning her flesh from her bones.

Instead, however, a rumbling emanated from the dragons throat a few moments before it formed the word, which sounded strangely melodious, "Play."

It took her a long moment to respond, and even then she still sounded unsure, "What?"

Impatiently, the dragon repeated in its deep voice, "Play. I cannot harm her until it plays."

"Her?" Camille dared to look past the dragon where she could see Peter still approaching before disappearing as the dragon's bulk hid him from view.

"It is _her_."

Before Camille could respond, Finis' vibrating increased in intensity until she was certain the instrument would shake its own keys from its body. Without consciously willing it, her legs carried her slowly around the dragon until Peter was in sight once again. Once she could see him again, she looked to the shaking flute in her hands and realized with certainty that now was the time.

She didn't know why it was necessary, only that it was, so she slowly lifted Finis to her lips and took a deep breath, her eyes closed. When she exhaled into it, however, the flute seemed to know what to do, and it seemed to move her fingers quickly up and down in strange combinations that she was certain to forget later. Against the sound of her heart pounding in her ears and the dragon roaring beside her, Camille hardly noticed the sound coming from the instrument she held in her hands.

Opening her eyes, Camille noticed something strange happening to Peter. Even as she watched he seemed to be knocked backward in response to Finis' music, and suddenly his armor disappeared and his form seemed to change. In shock, Camille watched as she realized it wasn't Peter that had been approaching the dragon. But, rather, it appeared as though a young woman with light, flowing hair had disguised herself as Peter with magic.

As the dragon lifted into the air, aiming toward the witch with his jaw opened, Camille's breathing ceased and she dropped Finis. The music having stopped, the witch was able to regain her composure and thus was able to shield herself from the jet of flame the dragon aimed at her. Then, the dragon landed and roared in frustration before swiping at her with a massive paw. With a sudden twist in the spot where she stood, the witch disappeared with a sound like a small explosion before the dragon could land his blow, leaving behind a circle of charred grass.

Slowly, Camille bent down to retrieve Finis. The flute did not appear to be damaged, to her relief, and its humming had returned to normal. As she returned the instrument to its case, the dragon turned around on its wings and landed before her again. Feeling strangely weak, Camille lowered herself down into the tall yellow-green grass and sat there, waiting.

"That is Finis," the dragon started, sitting down on its hind legs and folding its front legs underneath, "isn't it?"

Camille nodded reluctantly, her eyes focused on her feet in front of her, "How do you know about Finis?"

A strange, guttural sound issued from the dragon's throat and she realized with some surprise that the dragon was laughing at her. Then the dragon simply said, "Finis is no secret, Wielder."

When Camille made no sound or movement to signify her understanding, the dragon spoke again. "Tell me, small one, what is your name?"

Lifting her head, Camille saw that the dragon was curled on the ground in front of her. He was too far away to touch but certainly too close for comfort. Inhaling steadily, she replied, "My name is Camille."

"Camille," the dragon repeated slowly, as if struggling to form the word in his large mouth. "I am" –here, the dragon issued several strange noises, finishing with a short burst of flame issuing from between its long white fangs– "which translates roughly to Redstar, the Painter of Skies."

Camille stared up into the ruby eyes of the dragon curiously, wondering what he must have done to earn such a title. Having felt her strength return, she slowly pushed herself to her feet, remembering that she had failed to put on her shoes before leaving the camp. "She was a witch, wasn't she – the woman who tried to attack you?"

Redstar blinked slowly before seeming to hiss, "Yes, she was."

"How could you tell?"

It took him a long moment to explain, "I have encountered her before, and I recognized her magic."

"How so?"

"I'm sure you understand that the smell of roses is distinct, just as the smell of rainfall is."

Camille nodded when the dragon paused to ascertain she followed him.

"In a similar fashion, the magic of one feels differently than the magic of another," the dragon explained, "And, because I have fought her before, I was able to recognize it as hers."

Trying not to let the dull pain of her freezing feet distract her, Camille asked, "How could you feel her magic?"

"It is the nature of dragons to sense magic, even from a distance. For example, I recognized that The End's magic was of no threat to me as you approached."

"The End? What's 'The End'?"

Redstar lifted his head and looked off to the right. His long, slender tongue slipped between his fangs for a moment as he tasted the air. Then he rose to his feet and lowered his head so that he was even closer to Camille than before. "It is another name for the instrument you carry," he said softly, blinking his red eyes at her. He was close enough so that she could see his slit pupils grow smaller in the sunlight. "There are two Horses, a Faun, and another human approaching, Camille, Wielder of The End. I am afraid that I must leave you now, but I have a feeling our paths will cross again." Then he slowly pressed the tip of his snout to her forehead, his breathing disturbing Camille's dark hair, before pulling away again and unfolding his massive wings once more.

With some astonishment, Camille watched as the great red dragon leaped into the air, his wing beats growing quieter as he ascended and flew out of sight. Barely a minute after he disappeared, she turned to see Gareth, Susan, and the Horses approaching from between the trees. When they reached her she sat down in the grass once again, electing not to stand on her frozen toes as she explained what had happened to her to the four of them.

**A/N:** I was totally kidding in the last chapter when I said I would quit updating if I didn't get any reviews lol, just wanting to clear that up once again… Anyway, a lot happens in this chapter so I feel I could write a novel of notes about everything that has happened, so I don't think I'll bother to do that. Instead, if any of you have any questions feel free to ask them. And, as always, if you notice any mistakes or anything odd going on in the chapter point it out so I can fix it. Oh, and lastly **thank you all for reading and for reviewing and favoriting and all of that jazz.** :)


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Y'all better freakin' review! ;) Things are starting to get fluffy – just a warning!  
>…but things are also starting to get scary (possibly… we'll see) at the same time… so, this is weird O.o<br>My brain is just really weird sometimes, that's about all the explanation I have for that.  
>But, yeah, pleaseeeee reviieeeewwwww. YOUR REVIEWS ARE SUPER MEGA APPRECIATEDD!<strong>

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><p>"I think this spot would be good," Peter said as they came to a spot that appeared to be decent enough for camping. "And I spotted a fallen tree not too far back, so I can get some wood for a fire."<p>

As the other members of his party divided the various jobs between themselves, Peter set off alone. It probably wasn't the best idea, but it had been a long time since they had last seen a giant or anything else that looked questionable, so he wasn't particularly worried. Besides, he had been in the company of the others for the entire day, and the day before that, and so on, so he was really looking forward to being alone with his thoughts.

Speaking of which, his thoughts had a tendency to turn dark if he let them run astray, due to his growing fear of what they would find. Or maybe not find, for that matter. But when his thoughts began to darken he would try to think of something a bit lighter. For instance, he would entertain a bit of music that always cheered him up. Or the fact that at least Susan was safe… or at least accompanied if she _had_ set off after him.

Or he would wonder what Camille was doing, thankful that she was safe. He didn't exactly expect that she would have the nerve to follow him, with or without Susan, so he wasn't worried about her.

That is, until he finished collecting the wood for the fire, and rose to his feet to see Camille appear from between the trees. Her hair hung in loose curls around her face that bounced as she approached him, and she was wearing armor that had apparently been fitted just for her. However, she carried no obvious weapons, which seemed somewhat odd.

Peter dropped the wood at the sight of her, dumbstruck. Then, when she laughed at him, he collected his senses and exclaimed, "Camille! What are you doing here?"

"Following you, of course," she said as she stopped right in front of him, smiling. "Surprised?"

"Yes!" he said, still shocked. "You said that you would stay behind – why are you here?"

Without answering, she took a moment to step around the firewood he had dropped to the ground so that only a few inches separated them. "I'm here because you are," she answered, staring up at him intently. "Are you angry?"

"Well, no," Peter said, finding it abnormally difficult to look away from her eyes, which seemed different than he remembered them. "I just wish that you would have kept your word."

For a moment, she continued to stare at him as she had been, but then her eyes seemed to flash as she said bitterly, "Sorry I disappointed you."

Before he could reply, she put her hands on his shoulders and he felt a cold shock course through him, paralyzing him where he stood. Her eyes turned from the familiar brown to an unfriendly shade of green, and he realized that this was not Camille as she forced him to lie on the ground with her magic. Feeling anger more than anything, he tried to break free, but could not move his limbs… or stop them from moving as she willed them to.

Petrified, Peter watched as the witch breathed over his face and felt a new chill start on his lips and make its way through his mouth until it reached the back of his throat. It felt as if someone were strangling him with cold, invisible hands and he fought to grasp at his neck, though it was futile as he still could not move.

Then, with a laugh, the witch twirled and left his side, leaving him there to die alone. When she was gone, however, Peter was able to move once again, but it was pointless as the other magic continued to strangle him. He fought the urge to put his hands on his throat and pushed himself over to the pile of wood he had gathered for the fire. Because he could not call out to the others for help, he had to get their attention somehow, so he grabbed two of the pieces of wood and began to clap them together loudly, the throbbing in his head and the burning in his lungs growing fiercer as he did.

Eventually, he was forced to drop the wood as his limbs grew too difficult to move, and he finally allowed himself to wrap his hands around his throat. Although there was nothing physically there for him to wrench away, it was nearly impossible to remove his hands once they were there.

Just as he was certain he was living his final moments, he heard the sound of someone running toward him and opened his eyes again to see Camille – although he wasn't sure if it was really her or not – just as she fell to her knees beside him. He tried to keep his eyes open as she shouted something, but a comforting darkness was pulling him in and it was pointless to fight it.

Then his eyes closed against his will, and he found that the pain coursing through his body began to lessen. Just as he was beginning to think he was dead, he heard a strange and slow melody begin to grab his attention. As he listened, it grew louder, picking up speed until it had changed from smooth and relaxed to frantic and urgent.

The pain then disappeared altogether, and he opened his eyes just as the music stopped, gasping.

"Peter!" Camille exclaimed as he inhaled a second time, throwing her arms around him forcefully.

Although she had hurt him with her embrace, he wrapped his arms around her in return and buried his face in her hair as he continued to breathe. He realized then that his eyes were wet, but he wasn't sure if he could blame that on the fact that he had just nearly been suffocated to death, or if he was just that thankful to see Camille – the real Camille – again. He guessed that it was maybe a bit of both.

When they pulled away from one another, he breathed, "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your life," she said, laughing briefly after a moment. "You're welcome, by the way."

"I'll have to properly thank you later," Peter replied, "But, for now, why are you here?"

Camille shrugged after a moment and said, "I felt like it was the right thing to do."

Before either of them could say anything else, Susan and Dalton approached. Dismounting the Horse, Susan quickly stepped over to them and dropped down beside her brother, throwing her own arms around him. "What happened?" she asked as she released him, "She just disappeared again as we were settling down for the night, so I guessed something must have been wrong like the last time." Glancing from Peter to Camille, she added, "Was it the witch again?"

Camille nodded, but it was Peter that said, "She tried to kill me, and Millie saved me. But she's gone now, so there's nothing more to worry about."

Camille stared as Susan embraced her brother once more, and then she finally managed to say, "It wasn't me that saved you – it was Finis," just as Susan was releasing him again.

"No, Millie – Finis is just an instrument. But you are the musician and _you_ were the one that reached me in time. It was you that saved me."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Well, here is 17. It's super fluffy, but I hope you like it! Leave me reviews and let me know what you're thinking, please! Here's a friendly reminder that the more reviews I get the faster I update, usually ;)**

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><p>Camille woke several hours after the sun had set and shuddered. It was much colder that night than the night before, and a breeze had just blown through the camp, chilling her skin through her clothing. For a moment, she tried to fall back asleep, but as the wind blew past again she regretfully found that she was wide awake.<p>

So, reluctantly, Camille pushed herself up on her elbows and looked around the camp, which was dimly lit in the moonlight. And, after about a minute of looking at the others' sleeping forms around her, she realized that Peter was not lying with them. She panicked at first, thinking the worst, but then spotted him sitting with his back against a tree, several few yards away from the camp, when she turned her head. He was sitting there with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and she could tell that he was awake because he was leaning slightly forward.

He didn't seem to notice she was awake until she sat down beside him, her back to the large trunk as well, but he merely glanced at her and didn't say anything before looking into the distance again. For a long while they sat there in silence, but only until another gust of wind came through, making Camille's entire body involuntarily shiver. Silently, Peter beckoned for her to share his blanket with him, and he wrapped his arms around her when she leaned against him.

"Thanks," she managed to say, her teeth chattering as she avoided his eyes, which was easy to do when they were looking in the same direction.

She felt him shrug against her, but he made no other sign that he had heard her. Camille couldn't help wondering if he was mad at her for traveling with Susan, because he had hardly spoken to her after she had saved him earlier that day. He didn't appear to be, really, considering he had not completely ignored her – he had continued to maintain eye contact with her anytime she said anything – but he had not spoken directly to her for the rest of the night. So, when Camille gathered the courage, she asked just loud enough for him to hear: "Are you mad at me?"

Camille didn't think he had heard her at first, considering he didn't reply for at least a minute, maybe even two. Then he reached for one of her hands under the blanket, wrapping his fingers around hers as he said, "No, I'm not mad at you; I'm just worried."

"Why are you worried?"

She felt him chuckle against her, and he answered, "I'm worried because I'm afraid that something could happen to you, too."

Silence fell between them as Camille took the time to let his words sink in. And, after some time, she pulled her hand out of his and leaned just far enough away from him so that she could properly see his face when she turned her head. Looking him in the eyes, she asked, "Really?"

His blue eyes were both soft and serious as he repeated, "Really."

Without another word, Camille leaned back into him and reached for his hand again. Their fingers intertwined as Peter laughed and said, "Thank you again for saving my life. I only have one of those and I'm very grateful that you prevented it from ending today."

She would have rolled her eyes at his silliness, but she was feeling too warm against him to keep from smiling as she replied, "You're welcome, Peter."

Then, for a long, long time, they sat there together in silence, listening to the sounds of the mountain around them. It seemed abnormally calm, but Camille guessed that giants had to sleep sometime. Just as she was beginning to fall asleep, Peter stirred and released her hand. She blinked several times and watched as his newly freed hand found the locket that was still hanging around her neck.

"Did you manage to open it?" he asked quietly, turning it over in his hand.

Sleepily, she nodded against him, remembering the note he had left inside.

"I'm guessing that you like it, then? I mean, I hope that you wouldn't wear something you don't like."

"I do like it," she said, stifling a yawn with her hand.

He continued to hold it for a little while longer as Camille's eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Then he released it once more and, instead of reaching for her hand again, gently placed his hand on the side of her face. Startled, Camille's eyes flew open and she looked up at him in surprise, but he didn't remove his hand.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay," she squeaked nervously, unsettled by how close they were to one another as she looked up at him.

Smiling, Peter brushed her hair out of her face before reaching for her hand again. He looked off into the darkness as she continued to look up at him, his blue eyes carefully surveying the surrounding trees and rocks before flitting back down to her face. "You know," he said after a moment, "You don't have to say yes to this question, but I was just wondering if it would be okay if I kissed you?"

Camille had grown rather tired again, but her face still managed to flood with color as she struggled to come up with an answer. Finally, she yawned and said, joking, "Only if you promise to let me sleep afterwards."

He laughed before yawning back at her. Then he asked, "But do you want me to?"

Camille stared at him, wishing she could say no. After all, letting herself fall for Peter was dangerous, as they would inevitably be separated. Because, someday, she would be leaving Narnia, and she couldn't count on ever returning once she did. And, even if she did return, there was always the possibility of her coming back to find him with someone else, or at least to find that he was no longer interested in her.

However, she did find with some surprise that she really wanted him to, despite her fears. So, with only a little reluctance, Camille breathed, "Yes."

And so, Peter let go of her hand one last time, gently lifting her chin as he leaned down into her. At first, the kiss was awkward. Yet, it became less so as he moved his hand from under her chin to the back of her head, holding her there carefully. It felt as if time had slowed as Camille felt herself growing almost uncomfortably warm from the contact, her lips feeling strangely foreign as they burned against his. Then, before she was ready to part, he pulled away. But he kept his face close to hers, their noses barely touching, as if he was reluctant to part with her.

Pressing his forehead against hers, he whispered, "Why did you come with my sister, again?"

"I thought it was the right thing to do," she said, her eyes still closed, repeating her former answer, "and I didn't want to sit around the castle, waiting. I think now that I would have gone crazy if I had stayed behind."

"Out of boredom?"

"No," she whispered, "Worry."

Peter didn't say anything else as he lightly kissed her forehead, found her hand with his, and let her fall asleep against him as he held her.

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><p>The smell of cooking food roused Camille the following morning, and she blindly reached out with her hand, expecting to find Peter's still there. When she merely grasped empty air and realized that she was no longer leaning against him, but was rather lying alone on the ground, she opened her eyes to see the sun rising. Slowly, she lifted herself off the ground and noticed that she was the last to wake, and that only half of the combined party was still in the camp. While Gareth, Dalton, Piper, Bane, and Susan had remained behind, the others, including Peter, were nowhere to be seen.<p>

Camille took a moment to brush the dirt from her clothing. Then, yawning, she stretched her arms as she joined the others, happily taking a plate when it was offered to her and sitting down beside Gareth.

Susan, who was sitting across from them, asked, "Sleep well?"

With a nod, Camille swallowed and said, "Yeah… You?"

"The same," Susan said before falling silent.

As they ate, Camille found herself not only wondering where the others were, but if they had noticed her sleeping alongside Peter or if he had woken before anyone could. It would be a bit embarrassing if someone had noticed, especially Susan or Gareth – both of whom Camille was closest to – and she really hoped that nobody had.

As Camille was about to ask where the others had gone, she heard the pounding of hooves approaching the camp. And then the centaur, Ciro, appeared, being closely followed by the others, including Peter on the Horse, Blink. As one, Susan, Camille, and Gareth rose to their feet, and it was Susan that stated, "You found something," as Peter landed on his feet and approached her.

Camille watched as he pulled a bottle made of diamond from a pocket and dropped it in Susan's hands. Her hands shaking, Susan looked up at him and whispered sadly, "Lucy's cordial…"

"It's all we found," Peter said, only acknowledging Camille for a split-second before returning his attention to Susan, "But I think it means we're getting close."

Susan remained motionless for a moment more before throwing her arms around her brother, who hugged her back just as forcefully.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Okay, so it's short, I know. I'm SORRY!**

**But it has been entirely too long, due to my truly horrible case of writer's block, and I wanted to write a short bit about Lucy and Edmund and what they're going through…**

**Hopefully, though, the next chapter will be longer… and will return to Camille and Peter and Susan, yay!**

**Anyway, please leave me some reviews ;) You know I always appreciate those! And THANK YOU ALL for the reviews I've already received!**

**I also expect that we're getting close to the end, just by the way! I hope you will all stick around to see it!**

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><p>It was dark and cold that night. Lucy had been left alone when someone had entered the small room, their face hidden beneath a hood, and had taken Edmund. She was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to see her brother again when suddenly the door was thrown open, and he stumbled inside before falling to the floor. A moment later the door slammed shut, and Lucy was at his side.<p>

"Edmund?" she said warily, putting one of her hands on his shoulders. He didn't move, but she knew he was awake because she could see his eyes staring blankly. Shaking him slightly, she repeated, "Edmund?" But, again, there was no answer. Lucy withdrew her hand, but before she could say anything else, he spoke.

"It's okay, Lucy," Edmund said, his dark eyes no longer glazed over as he looked up at her. "I'm all right."

"Then why aren't you moving?"

With a series of grunts, he pushed himself up, leaning his back against the wall as he sat beside her. "Because it hurts to, but only a little bit. I'm okay though, I promise."

"I wish I had my cordial," Lucy breathed, looking at her brother sadly.

"It's not your fault, Lu. Don't blame yourself. Besides, I'm sure that Peter and Susan will find us soon – you'll see."

"If they even know where to look."

Edmund reached for her hand, although it still hurt him to move, and tried to reassure her, "C'mon Lucy, you and I both know Peter's knack for tracking. It's only a matter of time."

"If you last that long," Lucy said quietly, "What did they do to you?"

"I'm not sure," he replied, gripping her hand tighter, "I don't really remember it."

"Edmund –"

But he insisted, "I'm telling you the truth, Lucy. I don't remember anything that happened while I was out there, not really. The last thing I really remember is being dragged out into the hall and then it doesn't make any sense."

Lucy's grip slacked as she looked her brother over. She didn't believe him, but she couldn't see a lie in his eyes. It didn't make any sense. It was dark in the room, and she couldn't see him very well despite how close they were, but she looked him over anyway. She was looking for some kind of evidence to indicate what they had done to him, but she couldn't see anything that could tell her what happened.

"I don't even remember how we got here," Edmund said when she didn't say anything for a long time. "Do you?"

"I only remember bits and pieces of it." Lucy sighed, "I've got no idea where we are, actually."

"I think that we're maybe somewhere up north, but that's about all I can figure. And I've got no idea who brought us here, either. However, I have a theory."

"I know," Lucy said, releasing his hand, "I'm certain we're thinking the same thing."

They fell silent then, for quite a long time. Although they didn't say anything, Lucy helped him to lie down on the floor. Edmund groaned a little at being forced to move, but otherwise didn't protest. And, when she laid down beside him he reached for her hand again. It was cold and uncomfortable, but they were just grateful they were together.

"I hope they hurry," Lucy said suddenly, "I think it's starting to get colder."

"Well, Mr. Tumnus' tea is definitely cold by now, that's for sure," Edmund laughed, getting only a smile out of Lucy.

"Don't worry, Ed. I expect he'll just make more next time."


	19. Chapter 19

When they reached a forest thick with thorny branches, the party was forced to come to a stop. Peter, who was leading the group, dismounted to inspect the obstacle in front of them in silence. As he did this, Susan and Camille dismounted as well. While Susan took her place at her brother's side, Camille held back beside Gareth.

"There's no way we can get through that," Camille said under her breath.

But Gareth, of course, remained optimistic. "You'd be surprised by the High King's determination… Besides, maybe your magical flute can clear the path for us," he finished with a laugh.

"I highly doubt that."

"Well," Peter had finally turned to speak to everyone standing there, "I think we're going to have to stop for tonight. So, let's go ahead and make camp."

As everyone walked off to do so, Peter and Susan remained where they were. After a moment of considering what to do, Camille strode toward them. The two of them didn't seem to notice her approaching at first, too absorbed by the conversation they were having in low voices, but as she grew closer they both turned to look at her.

For once, Camille found that she wasn't nervous from the attention, and she asked evenly, "Is there not a way around this?"

"There is," Susan answered before Peter could, "but he's convinced that cutting our way through would be quicker."

"That's because it would be," Peter said quietly, almost as if he didn't mean for them to hear it.

Turning back to her brother, Susan said firmly, "Look, I don't care if the trail leads straight into the bloody forest of thorns, it would take _ages_ to cut our way through. Not to mention I seriously doubt the centaurs or the horses could follow us into that. Also, I am quite confident that we would get lost in there. Do you see how thick it's grown? How will we see enough of the sky to tell which way is north?"

Shrugging, Peter replied, "I don't need to see the sky, I just know instinctively which way north is."

As the two of them continued to argue, Camille suddenly realized that Finis was humming against her back. With little hesitation, she pulled the flute from its case and held it in her open palms. Neither Susan nor Peter seemed to notice what she was doing as they continued to argue.

"_I just know instinctively which way north is_," Susan mocked as Camille watched Finis rotate in her hands, as if commanded to do so.

"I'm serious! I just _know_ which way it is!" Peter said loudly in order to be heard over Susan, who was still mocking him. "In fact, north is that way!" He added, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the forest of thorns.

"Oh, please, you only know that because the sun is setting," Susan said smartly. "Everybody knows the sun sets in the west –" as Susan said this, Camille watched as the flute rotated again, so that the mouthpiece was pointing toward the sunset, " –and rises in the east." Again, Camille watched as Finis turned in a complete circle, until the mouthpiece was pointing in the opposite direction.

As Peter continued arguing with his sister, Camille realized what was going on. Suddenly hopeful with the realization, she exclaimed over him, "Peter, stop shouting for a second – you need to take a look at this!"

For a moment, Camille thought that Peter might shout at her as he turned on her. But, as he saw the flute in her hands, and realized she was talking about it, his demeanor changed instantly.

"What's it doing now?" Susan asked cautiously, knowing that every time the flute had done something odd before it usually was a warning that they were in danger.

Excited, Camille said, "It – it's like a compass or something! You just tell it a direction and it will point that way." Putting her eyes on Peter again, she demanded, "Try it, Peter."

"Uhh…"

As Peter struggled to comprehend what Camille had just told him, Susan took a step closer and said, "Show me north."

With the three of them watching this time, Finis swiveled around in Camille's hands until the mouthpiece was pointing toward the forest again. Susan and Camille looked to Peter after it stopped to see that he seemed to be shocked. After a moment, he explained, "I didn't think it could do that."

"Neither did I," Camille admitted, "I only just found out, actually."

"You know, it is strange," Susan said thoughtfully. "I'm not complaining or anything, of course, because now we won't get lost if we go through that dreaded forest. However, I thought it was only supposed to undo dark magic. Isn't it a bit odd that it can do this, too?"

"Maybe a bit," Peter replied, "but why does it matter?"

"Because," Camille answered before Susan could reply, her eyes wandering over the ground in front of her feet, "now we know that we don't know what else it can do."

"Camille," Susan said suddenly, a thought seeming to come to her then, "do you think it can show us where Edmund and Lucy are? Maybe we can ask it to point us in the right direction."

"I don't know," she breathed. "I guess it's possible. I'll just have to try it."

"Here, let me try," Peter said, coming closer to Camille. Then he said something so quietly that she couldn't make out his words, despite how close they were standing to one another.

They waited, but after some time it became clear that Finis wasn't going to respond. Disappointed, Peter slowly backed away from Camille and looked to his sister. Susan was upset it hadn't worked, but, unlike Peter, she didn't appear to be incredibly frustrated. As he started to walk away, Camille tried to follow him but was stopped by Susan.

"It's not your fault, Cam," she said. "Just let him alone for a while." Then, without another word, Susan left Camille there and joined the rest of the party.

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><p><strong>AN: This chapter is also on the short side… I hope to make the next chapter longer though, so no worries! Anyway, thank you all for following, favoriting, and reviewing – keep at it! :)**


	20. Chapter 20

Still holding Finis in her hands, Camille watched as Susan walked away. As it had done every time she had held it, it seemed to thrum with energy, turning her fingers numb. After a few minutes of standing there alone she turned back to the forest of thorns and considered what to do. She didn't know why Finis had acted as a compass when it was created only to put a stop to dark magic, and it was bothering her. Especially as she went over what she had said only a few minutes earlier – that now they didn't know the limits of Finis' power.

Looking back down at the bronze flute, she decided to try something. Seeing as she could tell it to point north, she wondered what else she could tell it to do. Maybe she could get it to show her which way Lucy and Edmund were, even if Peter couldn't get it to do so.

"Show me the path we need to take," she said quietly to the instrument, wondering if she imagined the falter in its humming or not. Regardless, it refused to point the way, but Camille didn't fully expect it to anyway.

A voice off to her right nearly made her jump from her skin. "If you want Finis to show you the way you should play it."

Camille was surprised to see Gareth standing there, and her hand came to rest over her heart as she breathed a sigh of relief. "Gareth!" she exclaimed, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

The faun smiled, "Sorry, I wasn't trying to sneak."

She studied him for a minute, as the sky grew ever darker, before asking, "How do you know what Finis will do?"

Grinning again, Gareth replied, "I don't. But do you not remember what the dragon had said to you about Finis?"

Camille did remember what Redstar, the red dragon she had only met a few days prior, had said. Nodding, she said, "Yes, I remember what he said – something about sensing Finis' magic. But I thought the extent of Finis' power was putting a stop to dark magic, seeing as _that_ is what it was made for."

"Maybe that's not the extent of it, though," Gareth said calmly, "After all, magic can only be undone by using magic. And, from what you've told me about it seeming to be alive in your grip, I can't help thinking that it might be capable of more than we think."

Camille took a while to absorb Gareth's words, unable to deny that what he had said made a lot of sense. She didn't know much about magic, so she didn't know whether or not it was true that only magic could undo magic. However, she couldn't imagine why he would lie to her about something like that. So she decided to trust him and, facing the forest again, put the flute to her lips and started to play.

Unlike the times she had played Finis before, this time she felt a sense of control over her fingers. Yet she played with confidence, and the notes left the instrument in a slow and connected manner. The melody was haphazard and mournful, and Camille was confused by this as the mood of the music wound its way around her. As she grew increasingly disheartened, she shut her eyes and continued to play, trying to focus.

But what she saw when she closed her eyes only made it worse. So she didn't notice the grass at her feet begin to glow as if lit by thousands of tiny, blue lights, forming a path from her feet to the forest of thorns ahead, and disappearing in its darkness. But Gareth did.

"Camille!" Gareth put a hand on her shoulder and her eyes flew open, "It's working!"

Coming to a stop in her playing, Camille removed Finis from her lips and took a shaky breath to clear her head. The lights on the ground continued to glow, casting an eerie blue light on their faces as the night finally settled over them. As they followed the trail with their eyes, wondering where it would lead, they heard the sound of someone running toward them.

Turning around, they saw Peter just as he stopped in front of them, who looked perplexed. Looking between Camille and the glowing ground before them, which was growing dark once more, he spluttered, "You… the… the grass… it's _glowing!_ How?"

"I just asked it to show the way," Camille said shakily, realizing she had been crying. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she continued, "and when I played… the path just appeared like that."

Recovering from his surprise, Peter realized she was upset, "Are you okay?"

"I-I don't know," Camille answered, feeling more tears coming on, "I don't know what happened, but when I played it just… I don't know how to explain it. The music was… was…"

As Camille choked up, Gareth explained, "It was a very random melody, sire. But it was sad; I think she became upset while playing it."

"Thank you, Gareth." Peter said curtly, "You may go join the others now."

Sensing this was an order, Gareth didn't argue. With a sideways glance at Camille, who had sat down on the ground as she cried, he went to re-join the others where they had set up camp. Once he was gone, Peter took a seat in the grass beside Camille. They had not been alone since the night before, and he had been trying to keep a healthy distance from her during the day because the last thing he wanted was for whoever it was that had taken his siblings to see him being friendly with her. He didn't want her to become a target. Thus, when Peter sat down beside her he kept a short distance.

Again, Peter asked if she was okay.

Camille tried again to wipe her eyes and said, sniffling, "I'll be fine. I was just a little overwhelmed by Finis, that's all."

Peter didn't know what to say, but he couldn't help noticing she was avoiding his eyes. Finally, he asked, "Is that the first time it's done this to you?"

Camille nodded slowly, her arms wrapped around her knees, still not looking him in the eye.

He scooted closer to her then, enclosing the space that had previously existed between them. Putting an arm around her and pulling her into him, he decided that he would be frustrated with himself if he didn't comfort her. It scared him for a moment when she had another short sob against him, but he soon realized that she was done once it passed.

After a short while of them sitting there in silence, she finally explained, "I think it's a warning."

"A warning?"

She nodded against his chest. "For what lies ahead."

Peter suddenly felt more awake, "What do you mean?"

A few more tears silently fell down her face before she said, "I think… I think that your brother is in pain."

Disbelief crossed his face, "How could you possibly know that?"

"I saw him," Camille said earnestly, "I saw him while I was playing Finis."

For the first time, Camille heard a tone of fear grip Peter's voice, "What about Lucy – did you see her?"

She shook her head, "No, I didn't – just Edmund."

"What exactly did you see?" Peter pressed, looking down at her tear-stained face for the first time.

But Camille just shook her head, looking down, "I don't know. I'm not even sure if it was real."

"Camille," Peter said shakily as he put his hand under her chin, lifting her face, "What did you see?"

She took hold of his hand, removing it from her face, and explained, "I just saw Edmund, by himself, and he looked okay – aside from how pale he was – and he was walking, but he seemed to be in pain with every step he took. I don't know how else to explain it, Peter. There wasn't a visible mark on him, but he acted as though every inch of him had been beaten."

As she spoke, Peter's grip on her hand tightened, and she thought for a moment that maybe he was going to cry. To her surprise, however, he released her hand, took her face in his hands and kissed her briefly before helping her to get to her feet. "Come on," he said in a forced voice, taking hold of her hand again, "let's go join the others. We need to at least tell Susan about this."

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><p><strong>AN: I hope the ending wasn't too cheesy... The next chapter will go back to Edmund and Lucy by the way!**

**Please review - and thank you all for reviewing, favoriting, and following! :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Edmund stumbled into the small room where he and Lucy were being kept. He tried to remember what had just happened in the time he had been gone. But, just like the night before, everything seemed to be slipping through his fingers, and by the time he collapsed on the floor in their cell he couldn't remember anything that made sense. He could remember a couple of different smells, a few flashes of light, a glance at a face he hadn't seen long enough to make out, and an odd sensation as if something were crawling beneath his skin.

At the thought, he tried to lift his hand to scratch at his chest, but the aching pain prevented him from doing so. As he groaned and blinked the room came back into focus, and he realized that Lucy was leaning over him… and that she had apparently been calling his name.

"Lucy," he breathed, reaching for her hand despite that it hurt to do so. "I'm okay," he promised as she took hold of his hand. Tired and incredibly achy, he closed his eyes again, which frightened Lucy.

"Edmund?" She said frantically, "Edmund!"

Without opening his eyes, he grunted, "I'm all right, Lucy. I'm just tired."

"Oh, Edmund," Lucy sighed, "Do you not remember anything?"

Forcing himself to talk, he said, "Nothing that makes sense."

"You don't have any idea of what they're doing to you?" she pressed.

"No," Edmund said, halfway opening his eyes, "I don't know what they're doing besides weakening me."

Lucy blinked, thinking. At first she had assumed they were hurting him, but there wasn't a mark on him. There never was when he returned, yet he was in so much pain it hurt him to move even a little. Maybe they weren't _harming_ him. Maybe they were doing something to strain every muscle in his body instead. Maybe they were simply _weakening_ him.

"Edmund," Lucy whispered after a long while, "can you tell me what kind of pain you're in?"

"Sorry?"

"Does it feel like you're bruised? Or is it more like you've been sparring with Peter all day?"

Edmund choked a laugh at the thought of sparring all day with Peter. If they were ever to try it, he was certain they would both collapse at least halfway through.

"I feel sore, Lucy, like I've been over-working every muscle in my body. It's even difficult to speak. But I don't feel as though I've been beaten."

When Lucy was silent, Edmund spoke again. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Lucy finally concluded. "I just don't understand why they're doing this. It's almost as if they're using you as a slave or something… but why would they only take you? Why leave me here?"

"Maybe because you're a girl… HEY!"

Momentarily forgetting the pain her brother was in, Lucy had smacked Edmund's arm.

"Oh! Sorry, Ed!"

Groaning, he turned his back on her. "It's all right, Lu."

What felt like only a few minutes later, Edmund woke to the sound of a door slamming shut. Opening his eyes, he saw Lucy staring back at him. She looked frightened. Without saying a word, he took hold of her hand and squeezed it, no longer as sore as he was the night before.

Lucy whispered, "Edmund?"

He shushed her as he tried to listen. It had sounded as though someone had angrily slammed that door, and Edmund hoped he might hear raised voices. In the time they had spent in this gloomy place they had never heard any of their captors speak, not even when they would come to whisk him away. He hoped that maybe now he could learn something.

But the next thing he heard was the sound of the door on the opposite wall creaking open.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: What the heck is going on? Youguysleavemenoreviewsanymore. Did I do something wrong? Lol. I'll send you guys kittens and smiles if you review… and maybe cookies, too. But right now I mostly have an abundance of kittens… I mean, even as I type this one of them is sleeping in my lap despite the fact that my laptop was here first…

Why am I talking about kittens?! Is this really my life now?

You know what, bye… I'm done for today bahaha.

But seriously, review or else… or else… or else you won't see Redstar again! Or maybe Peter will break-up with Camille! Or maybe Susan will turn evil! MAYBE IT'S ALL SUSAN'S DOING MWAHAHAHAHA! Or maybe Camille will accidentally drop Finis off a cliff! Or maybe Edmund will die! Or maybe Lucy will murder Camille, thinking she's evil when she comes to save them!

Okay, none of that is supposed to happen (or is it? I might be lying…), but maybe I'll change the plot a bit…

Seriously, I don't even know what's wrong with me today, so don't ask because I won't be able to explain. I'm just crazy… and a bit excited to finish this story!


	22. Chapter 22

"Are you sure?"

Camille nodded, and Susan's face, which was lit by torchlight, fell even farther.

She turned her calculating gaze to Peter as she said, "We'd better hurry then. Just because he's alive now doesn't mean he will be tomorrow."

"Well," Peter started as Camille rubbed her arms, trying to return some feeling to them as the night air grew colder, "I guess it's a good thing that Finis can show us the way then."

Susan started, her eyes widening, "It can?"

Nodding, Peter confirmed, "Yes, it can… But you're not going to like where the path leads."

"It's through the thorns, isn't it?" said Susan, with a flat tone to her voice. When Peter merely nodded again, she insisted, "There has to be another way, Peter. Maybe if we walk around the forest we'll be able to recover the path on the other side."

"Or maybe they're being kept inside the forest itself," Peter said, thinking hard, "Did you think of that?"

"That's impossible," she retorted, "They would have had to clear a path, which we would've been able to see. If they had gone through we could have just taken the same route."

"I agree that it's highly unlikely," he started, "But not that it's impossible."

"If you dare say that it's magic…"

"It would be the only plausible explanation!" exclaimed Peter, "I mean, have we or have we not encountered a witch on two separate occasions already? _Really,_ Susan, it would make perfect sense for her to hide them somewhere in there. Wouldn't it?"

Susan took a moment to gather her thoughts before replying, "I guess it would make sense for someone to do that, especially if they _could_ cover their tracks with magic."

Gareth, who had been silently listening into the conversation, suddenly said, "If that witch is capable of appearing and disappearing as Camille says she is, then she may not have to make her way through the forest. She could simply disappear and reappear within."

"Oh she's capable of it," Peter said bitterly. "She disappeared shortly after she tried to kill me. She simply twirled and vanished into thin air – I saw the whole thing."

"You were also choking to death at the same time, Peter," Susan interrupted, "She may have just run off when you weren't looking."

"I'm telling you," he insisted, "I was watching her until she disappeared, despite the fact that I was incapacitated at that moment. She didn't run off – she just _vanished_."

The world was covered with a blanket of frost the next morning. Camille shivered as they gathered beneath the shade of the thorny trees, her left hand twisted in Piper's mane, her right hand tightly gripping the hilt of Edmund's sword. As she looked up at the branches, covered in twisting vines, an ominous feeling made its way through her chest. She was certain this was the right thing to do, and the right way to go, but these trees were no friends of theirs… that was for sure.

Peter was the first to go, swiping and hacking once he found a weakness in the thorny growth. Slowly, he went through, leading the way, Susan and Gareth following closely. Camille remained behind with Piper for a short while, until Susan's back was all she could see of the three of them.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Camille voiced for the first time, her gaze still on Susan's back.

"As do I," Piper agreed, snorting briefly, "Still, I do wish I could go with you."

Camille turned to face the Horse then, and nodded, "We'll be back soon enough – you'll see."

The Horse merely inclined her head, and said, "You probably ought to be going; they'll need you."

"I'll see you soon," Camille promised before turning and hurrying along after them, being careful not to snag her clothing on any of the vines pressing against her in the narrow path. It was almost as if the forest was already growing back, unhappy with the newly opened space.

They moved slowly, the path quickly growing dark in front of them. Sooner than any of them had hoped, they found themselves carrying torches. It was impossible to tell the time in the darkness, and Peter quickly grew tired, trading places with Gareth – holding a torch instead of swinging a sword. They would only ever stop so that Camille could bring Finis out to show the way again, changing direction when needed. Every time she brought the instrument out, Camille kept her eyes open, even if it meant staring into the dark depths of the trees; she didn't want a repeat of last time.

The ground led downhill after many hours of this, growing muddier beneath them. Soon the path became slick, and Susan was the first to fall, closely followed by Camille. Cold mud now covering their backsides, they would huddle together for warmth when Gareth would hit a hard patch, and when he grew tired and traded places with Peter once more.

They hardly dared to speak to one another, as if they were afraid to break the deafening silence around them. The forest was too quiet; there was no chattering of birds or the sound of squirrels jumping through the trees. Camille guessed that the vines, armed with their many sharp barbs, were the deterrent, and the only creatures they would find in the forest – aside from themselves – would be the insects. But even they were scarce to be seen or heard from.

It felt like they had been inching slowly through the forest for days, rather than hours, by the time they were all yawning. By then the ground had inclined, the ground turning dry once again, and they agreed to get some rest. Despite the lack of life, and the apparent lack of a threat, they still elected to sleep in turns, someone always awake to keep watch. Susan was the first to volunteer, and when her turn was over, she roused Camille from her sleep.

"Anything exciting happen?" Camille asked in jest.

Offering her a tired grin, Susan shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not."

"Bummer," was Camille's reply as she watched Susan lie down. Pulling her knees to her chin, Camille let her gaze drift and her mind wander. To pass the time, she would think about the many books she had read before coming to Narnia, letting the scenes play out in her head like a moving picture. She rested her head on her knees as she thought on them, occasionally looking over to Peter's form, deciding she would wake Gareth once she felt her turn was over.

Camille jumped awake to find her head still resting on her knees and her back aching from the awkward position she was in. Yawning, she lifted her head and rubbed her eyes before looking around, expecting to see the others still sleeping around her.

But they weren't there.

"Peter?" Camille whispered, her voice still muddled from sleep. "Susan? Gareth?"

Slowly, she made her way to her feet, stumbling momentarily in the darkness.

"Guys!" She called, looking around, squinting, "Where are-"

Her foot had then hit something that felt odd. As she looked down, she saw an arm outstretched, coming from a body hidden from her view. It looked as though the forest had swallowed them while she was sleeping, stopping just short of the job after she had woken up.

Stunned, Camille knelt down and took hold of the hand. It was strangely cold, but that only made her more fearful. Desperate, Camille grabbed the arm with both hands and pulled as hard as she could, pulling the dead weight of the body out of the grip of the forest, certain she was bloodying them up against the thorns as she pulled. She slowly pulled the body out, revealing a shoulder first, and a head of blonde hair second.

"Peter?" she gasped, loosening her grip momentarily in horror. The forest responded to her lack of an effort, and in the moment she lightened her grip it began to pull him back in and back out of sight. "Peter!" she shouted frantically, grabbing him once more and pulling as hard as she could, yanking him completely out of the grip of the forest within a few short minutes.

Panting, she rolled him over and away from the thorns. Now that he was on his back, Camille could see his lifelessness, and grabbed for his face. Like his hand, his face was cold, too, and she couldn't feel a pulse, nor did he seem to be breathing. Her hands shaking, Camille reached for Finis on her back, and found with shock that it was not there.

"No," she said weakly in disbelief, growing louder, "no, no, _no!"_

Going back to Peter, she again put her hands on his face, this time holding him steady as she breathed air into his lungs. She knew it was probably too late for this, he had probably died while she slept, but she wasn't thinking rationally. All she could think was that she would be alone if he was gone, and she did _not_ want to be alone.

As she lifted her head and went to place her hands on his chest, she heard him suddenly intake air on his own, and turned her head so fast she hurt her neck. Camille _knew_ deep down that this was impossible, yet, as she watched, signs of life flooded through him once more. He was _breathing_, the color was returning to his face and hands, and as she reached for one she felt a pulse grow in strength and warmth spreading to his limbs. All she could do was lay her head down on his chest and listen to him breathe, thanking Aslan for the first time as she did.

"Camille?" she heard him question, his voice thick with sleep. But, to him, he had only been asleep. "Camille, what are you doing? What's happened – where's Susan?"

Camille was quiet as she felt her face dry in the cold air, reluctant to share the bad news with him, much less that he had been dead as stone only a few minutes prior, and that she had lost Finis on top of that.

"What happened to Susan?" he asked again, more urgently as he tried to push himself up, fighting Camille as she tried to push him back down. For the moment, she was stronger than him, and she ended up succeeding in holding him to the ground. Peter grew impatient, and he fought to keep it from his voice as he repeated himself. "Camille – what happened?"

"I don't know," she mumbled.

"What?"

"I don't know!" She cried out, "I don't know what happened!"

"Camille-"

"They're gone!" She continued, seemingly ignoring him, "I just woke up and they were gone – Susan – Gareth – they were gone! Both of them! I don't know what happened! Your arm was the only part of you that was left! And I – I…"

"Camille, what are you-"

_"Quit dying!"_ She shouted suddenly, now lifting her head to look him in the eye, "If you die one more time I'll – I'll – well… Just quit it!"

Peter just stared at her, not quite knowing what to think. At first he wondered if this was some kind of a joke, but judging from the way she was glaring so intensely he knew it wasn't. Finally, he found himself merely saying, "Okay."

"Promise me," Camille insisted, still refusing to get off of him.

Gritting his teeth, Peter wondered if he was making a promise he could keep as he replied, "I promise."

Satisfied, Camille rolled off of him. Now that she was no longer crushing him, Peter managed to push himself up into a sitting position. As he looked around, he saw no sign of Susan or Gareth in the faint light. So, Gareth was gone too, he thought as he continued looking despite there not being much to see.

"Camille?" he spoke as a question entered his mind.

"Yes?" she asked as she got to her feet.

"What is that?" He lifted his hand as he asked, pointing at a spot several inches above her head. Afraid of what she might see, Camille looked up and saw what Peter was inquiring about.

Hovering just above her head was a tiny ball of blue light. Suddenly, it occurred to her that its presence was the only reason why they could see anything. Tilting her head down again, her eyes met Peter's, and she stared back at him. "I've no idea," she breathed.

"How long has it been there?" As he asked, Camille moved her upper body so that she wouldn't be directly underneath the strange light source. Oddly, it seemed to follow her, insistent on remaining just above her head.

"I've no idea," she said, her voice rising slightly in pitch, "I guess it was there when I woke up, but I didn't notice it until you pointed it out." As she said this, she took a step sideways, but the light just followed her, remaining over her head. "Why's it following me?" Camille complained.

Peter had risen to his feet as she tried to step away from it again and took hold of her by the elbows as she became frantic. "Stop it," he ordered firmly, "I don't know what it is either but it's doing us more good than harm – there's no reason to worry about it. What we need to worry about is getting out of this forest."

"But what about Susan and Gareth?"

"We will _find_ them," Peter reassured loudly, "But right now we should focus on getting back to the others."

"But-"

"Camille," his grip on her tightened, "Just do as I say and you'll be all right. I promise we'll get them back. All right?"

Camille stared into his eyes, which looked very dark in the dim light, and nodded solemnly. "All right," she repeated, and he released her.

"Good. Now, help me find the path – you're the one with the light, after all."

She did as he asked, going past him by a few steps, hoping to find the path that he and Gareth had worked so hard to clear. Soon enough, she found it, and the two of them began making their way back to where the others would still be waiting. Despite the glowing orb of light above her head, it was still quite dark, and after a few minutes of stumbling around in the dark Peter reached for her hand. If Camille didn't have such a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach she might have been distracted by the contact, but all she could think about was what may or may not have happened to Susan and Gareth and the strange ball floating above her head.

Where did it come from? Who conjured it? Why was it following her? Why didn't Peter have one, too? Could it possibly be the witch that sent it? Could she be spying on them? If so, then why? They certainly could have died in this forest, without a light to help them find their way out, so why would she help them? Or was it even the witch at all? What if it was someone else… but who could do such a thing?

"Camille?" Peter whispered after they had been travelling in silence for ages.

"Hmm?"

"What happened to Finis? The strap on your back looks empty."

"Oh," her face fell, although Peter couldn't see it, as she remembered it had disappeared too. "It's gone, too. I don't know what happened to it."

"So, you just woke up and Susan and Gareth were gone… and Finis was too?"

"Yes."

"Camille…" Peter hesitated, unsure of whether or not he wanted to know the answer to his next question, "What happened to me? When I woke up you seemed to think I had died…"

"I don't know what happened to you, Peter," she explained, "You were buried beneath the vines, almost as if they were trying to swallow you. All I could see was your arm, so I pulled you out, but you were lifeless."

"Lifeless, really?"

"Yes," Camille said, her grip on his hand loosening a bit, "There was nothing to indicate that you were alive and you were cold, as if you'd been dead for a while. I thought it was over."

"It?"

Exasperated, she sighed, "You; your family; your kingdom; maybe even my life as well… Who knows if I would have been able to find my way out of here on my own…"

"There's only one path, Camille," Peter said lightly, attempting to joke.

"True, but what if this light thing hadn't been here?"

"Then we'd both be dead anyway, I assume."

"It's not _funny_, Peter," she scolded.

"I wasn't joking," was his swift retort. "So how am I even alive, then?"

"I've got no idea," Camille said honestly, "You just kind of came back to life. There wasn't any kind of magic that I saw. All I can figure is that the forest drained the life out of you, but that once I pulled you out of its grasp it went back into you."

Skeptical, Peter said, "Really?"

"Can _you_ think of a better explanation?"

"Well, no, but-"

Suddenly he stopped speaking, falling silent. Not even a second later and he had stopped walking, too, seeing as he pulled Camille to a stop with his hand. Surprised, she groaned, "Ouch! Geez, _Peter!_"

"Be quiet!" He said over her, "I thought I heard something."

"Peter, there's nothing out here!" She whispered loudly, letting go of his hand.

"Just be quiet for a second," he insisted, moving past her a few steps to squint into the path of darkness ahead. He could have sworn he heard something, like the sound of branches groaning as they were bent; the sound of twigs snapping as they broke. In the second of silence that Camille afforded him, he heard it again, only louder this time. Turning to face Camille again, who looked a little odd with the glowing light above her head casting a halo on her hair, he said, "We need to go back."

"What?"

"The forest is enclosing the path ahead of us," he explained shortly, moving towards her, grabbing her hand, and beginning to pull her back the way they had come – further into the forest again. "We'll be crushed if we don't."

"But that's impossible!" Camille argued, struggling against his grasp, "There aren't any trees that move like that!"

"You clearly haven't been in Narnia long enough, have you?" Peter asked rhetorically before tugging her along at a run, back the way they had come, trying not to trip over any roots growing out of the ground as he went.

"Peter!" Camille shouted, though she kept pace with him, "_Peter!_"

He ignored her, anyway, wanting to put as much distance between them and the place where the path was enclosing. Although he knew this would only buy them a couple of hours at the most – a few minutes at the worst. But he didn't care, all he knew was that they had to keep running. Only when they reached the end of the path would they stop and figure out what to do, even if there was nothing they could do.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So a new update! I hope you like it!**

**I do… but your opinions matter to me just as much! So please let me know with a review!**

**Uhm, sorry this update has taken forever. I blame life (and also working on eight stories at the same time… well, last time I counted it was eight)…**

**Anyway, I hope the next update won't take as long lol. I'm not going to make any promises as to when it will be because I truthfully have no idea.**

**Until next time – do something awesome!  
>-Caitlin<strong>


	23. Chapter 23

Camille and Peter took to hacking away at the growth of the forest again, clearing a pathway before the previous one closed in on them. Soon, they were panting and sweating from the effort, but they didn't fancy being caught in the thorny vines as they grew back. Camille wasn't sure how long she could keep this up as her hand violently vibrated from each impact.

Then, with a loud _THWACK_, Edmund's sword became stuck in one of the branches. Now, her hand throbbing, Camille attempted to pull it from the tree, but had no luck even when she used both hands. Once Peter realized what was going on, he stopped her by prying her hands from the hilt and handing her his sword. He gave Edmund's sword one forceful tug and it came free of the bark.

"Thank you," Camille breathed after they had traded swords once again, her breath misting visibly in the cold.

"You're welcome," Peter nodded, stopping to catch his breath as well.

"So, now that we're out of danger for the moment…" Camille started slowly, using the back of her hand to wipe away the sweat that lined her face, "How are we gonna get out of here?"

Shaking his head, he replied, "I have no idea."

Camille dropped Edmund's sword on the ground, much to Peter's surprise, and started to massage her aching hands. "Can we just take a break for a little while? This is really taking a toll on my hands."

"I suppose, but we're going to have to keep going in a few minutes. We're going to need water soon, so the quicker we get out of here the better."

She couldn't argue with that as she sat down on the hard ground, seeing as her mouth had grown dry a long time ago. Camille had attempted to ignore it. However, it was growing more difficult with each passing minute.

Peter sat down beside her, being careful with his sword so that he didn't harm either of them with it. It was incredibly quiet again, now that the sound of the forest moving – enclosing the gap they had made behind them – had stopped. The silence made Camille feel uneasy, but she tried to ignore it as she wondered how they would get out of this mess, and where Susan and Gareth must be.

Putting her head in her hands, Camille silently prayed for the second time that day. She hoped that maybe – just maybe – they could be granted another miracle. She didn't know how it would happen, if it did at all, but she decided she didn't care. She just didn't want to die in the middle of this horrible, quiet place.

Peter shook her arm suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts, "Camille?"

"Hmm?"

"The light's gone."

"Oh," Camille glanced up and saw that Peter was telling the truth. The mysterious orb of light that had been providing the light for them had vanished. They could still see, however, seeing as what little of the sky they could see was stained orange from the sunrise. "It's beautiful," she said without thinking, "it's too bad we can't see it."

She had barely finished her sentence before they heard it – a strange roar in the distance. Peter, startled, had jumped to his feet, bringing his sword up with him. Camille, on the other hand, recognized the sound, and was less surprised by it.

"Peter," she said calmly as she got to her feet, "lower your sword."

"But –"

"I know him," she insisted, gently pushing his sword-hand down. As she looked up again, she saw the red dragon soar overhead, his scales the deep color of blood in the dim morning light.

"REDSTAR!" Camille bellowed, cupping her hands around her mouth. Peter stopped her before she could shout again, grabbing her hand forcefully.

"_What are you doing?_" he cried, his eyes – the color of sapphire – revealing his bewilderment.

Camille would have answered him, if it weren't for the fact that the dragon had apparently heard her. A great shadow fell over them as the dragon flew towards them, his great head hovering in the air as he stopped above them.

Peter froze, and every muscle in his jaw tensed. Slowly, he released Camille's wrist and reached for his sword, his grip resting on its hilt.

"Wielder," the dragon greeted, his voice rumbling. "I heard your call."

Camille didn't know what Redstar meant by that, but she knew that now was not the time to ask. Instead, she called up to the dragon, "Redstar, is there any way you can help us out of this forest? Does it end soon enough for us to cut our way out?"

The dragon blinked its enormous ruby eyes, his gaze calculating, "This cursed forest extends for miles in every direction, Wielder. You lost your path, did you?"

"Yes, we did!" Camille replied, exasperated. "I lost Finis while we slept!"

A rumbling sound issued from the dragon's throat. "It belongs to the forest now, as do all things that are lost within."

Peter shouted, then, "Can you help us?"

"On one condition."

Camille and Peter exchanged worried glances, and it was Camille who said, "Name it, then!"

"You must tell no one of what I am about to do."

"Okay!" Camille promised, "We won't!"

The dragon seemed to nod, before turning his head slightly to the left and opening his jaw. With a loud roar, a stream of fire issued from his throat. In stunned silence, they watched as Redstar worked to destroy a section of the forest to their right, being careful with his aim. They wondered what he was hoping to accomplish as he continued to do this, stopping once to circle around in the air before burning more of it to the ground.

Finally, after maybe ten minutes of watching Redstar burn and tear the trees apart, they saw him descend somewhere to their right, hidden by the few trees remaining between them. As the ground shook beneath them, hardly enough to jolt them to their senses, they realized he had landed in the area he had cleared.

"Cut your way through to me," they heard him bellow, "and be quick about it!"

Peter immediately set to hacking at the thick growth that separated them from the dragon, and within a few minutes they were pushing their way through the last of the smoldering growth. It was still warm from the dragon fire.

"Now what?" Camille muttered as Peter sheathed his sword and stumbled a few paces to the side before regaining his balance.

"Now you will climb onto my back, and I will carry you to the other side of this forest." Redstar then laid on his belly, his legs folded underneath his body, his tail swishing side-to-side in a way that reminded Camille of a cat. He was staring at them, his gaze impatient.

"Peter," Camille stepped over to him, "Are you okay?"

He nodded, rubbing the side of his face with his hand. "I'll be fine," he promised, although Camille wasn't entirely sure if she believed him.

Camille led the way to Redstar and, with the dragon's guidance, soon found herself lying on her belly, gripping the ridge of spines that protruded from his back. Peter quickly followed, lying on the opposite side of the ridge from her, his hands gripping the same spine. If she lifted her head enough she could see him on the other side, his eyes shut.

"You will want to hold on tightly," Redstar stated, slowly getting up onto his feet once more. Camille watched Peter swallow nervously as the dragon spread his wings. A minute later, the dragon leapt into the air, and she watched as the muscles in his wings contracted with each beat that forced them higher into the air.

It wasn't until they had leveled out and Redstar was gliding on air currents that Peter slid his hand down to meet Camille's. The touch startled her. Turning her head around, she was surprised to see that he had his eyes open, but that he didn't look afraid like she had expected.

The sky had finally turned blue, only a few shades lighter than Peter's eyes. As she tore her gaze away from him, looking down, she realized that if Redstar wished to kill them he would only need to drop them. Yet, she wasn't fearful. She trusted the dragon, although she wasn't sure how much.

Pushing these thoughts away, she looked on in awe at the world that had grown so small, yet so large, beneath her. She could see nothing but the forest behind her, but what laid ahead – more mountains in wait, and a great valley with a great lake in the center of it, all of it still covered in white frost – was nothing short of beautiful as the morning sun shone upon it.

Much too soon, she felt them descending, her ears popping uncomfortably as they did. It was horrendously cold in the air – the wind whipped through their clothing – but Camille could not deny she enjoyed the ride. For a frightening minute, she feared that they would collide into the ground, but as Redstar beat at the air with his powerful wings, she realized this fear was silly.

It wasn't until she and Peter had managed to slide off the dragon's back that she realized her hands were damaged. Camille supposed it was from gripping his scales, and clenched her hands into fists as they stung, her blood still slowly oozing from the wounds. She looked to Peter and noticed him grimacing as well as the dragon turned to face them.

"Thank you," Camille said, looking up to the dragon. "We owe you our lives."

"You owe me nothing. You are the Wielder of The-End," Redstar's burning gaze shifted to Peter as he added, "and you are the High King of Narnia."

To Camille's surprise, Peter seemed to be surprised. "You know who I am?" he asked breathily.

"I serve Aslan, and no others. Therefore, I know who you are."

"And yet I do not know you, dragon," Peter said, though not unkindly.

The dragon blinked his large eyes at him, before rumbling, "I do not give my name freely, king of Narnia. The Wielder knows only because I have fought alongside her."

Astonished, Peter turned to Camille, whose face flushed. Gripping her elbow, she explained, "We saw the witch. I was just helping him…"

"But surely she can just tell me your name?" Peter had turned back to Redstar, then.

The dragon chuckled, the sound a deep, staccato rumbling, "If you say so."

Camille furrowed her brow, "Well, surely I can. I mean, it's just –"

She knew she had said it, yet somehow something else – a sound that resembled a word very little – had come out. Astonished, she covered her hand with her mouth, as if she had accidentally let something inappropriate slip through her lips.

"A dragon can keep his name a secret if he wishes," was the only explanation he offered them, "Although, I am slightly disappointed that your voice did not surpass this magic."

"M-my voice?" Camille stuttered.

"You are not just the Wielder of The-End, young one. You also wield something that no cursed forest – nor no brand of magic – can take from you. But you mustn't use it lightly."

"Why didn't you tell me about this the last time we met?"

Again, the dragon seemed to laugh, "Because I did not know about it then. Aslan always saves his secrets until they need be shared."

Peter then found himself on the ground, his legs no longer willing to support him. Camille shot a look of concern and surprise his way, which he ignored to ask, "You've seen Aslan?"

Redstar nodded once, the movement so slight Camille wasn't sure if she imagined it. "We can speak of Aslan later. For now you must focus on regaining your strength." Then, without warning, the dragon spread his wings again and took off, rising into the sky much more quickly than the last time.

As he left, Camille turned to Peter, falling to her knees in the snow beside him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, "I'll be fine. I'm just exhausted, that's all."

"Well," Camille replied, "we should probably get some breakfast then, don't you think?"

* * *

><p><strong>Well, hello again! I know it's been a while, but I just thought I'd say that the next update won't be for at least another week. Probably more like two. I plan to spend a considerable amount of time working on this story over the summer… and maybe finishing it? I guess we'll see…<strong>


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